Forty Days
by Craxuan
Summary: At the aftermath of the Jiu Xu Disaster, Yang Xiao Long decides to accompany Ruby Rose and realize the dream of a grand adventure that she will never forget. However, reality seldom meets fantasy, and she will be faced with complications and hardships completely different from what she expected. This is the story of Ruby and Yang's forty days of adventure after 'Fire & Gold'.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: As the synopsis says, this is a story about the forty days Ruby and Yang traveled together (well obviously I'm not going to write down every single day; that'll take forever!) after they departed from Jiu Xu and before they arrived at Bamborsa. There may be snippets of the current time such as this chapter functioning as interludes before the next main Arc arrives, and while I haven't written that far yet (Hell, I've only completed 2 chapters so far if you discount this prologue!), who knows -**

**Maybe you'll get to see a beloved character show up?**

**One last thing. I will be updating this story weekly instead of my usual style (daily revise + update) due to several reasons: One, it's a holiday. I finally got a holiday after 5 months straight working in foreign land (the only leave I ever took was sick leave, so, yeah). Two, I haven't finished writing this yet, so it's somewhat unrealistic to expect a daily update that doesn't suck. I'm not that good.**

**And that's all. As usual, enjoy the read and stay sharp!**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Day XX:<strong>

Hello everyone, this is Yang Xiao Long speaking! Do you miss me?

So, yeah. I bet you didn't see this coming, my eternal nemesis (notebook). I didn't either. Never have I thought that I will pick up a pen again and write voluntarily, especially considering how you and thousands of your other brethren nearly drove me to suicide back at Jiu Xu, you sneaky little monster. Then again, I guess this is what adventuring does to every men and women, and in strange ways that not even the most precognitive could expect.

Regardless, filling my first diary entry with useless babbles an boring introductions really isn't my style, so I'll stop the complaints and jump straight into the meat.

So, about today! If I am to be entirely honest then… nothing much happened at all, really. As usual, our feisty little kitty is trying to off Ruby's life - hmm, looks like she's trying to snap her neck again, and considering that this is the tenth time she was forced into the same tactic I'm skeptical at her chances of success, but you go girl! - but this is pretty much routine by now and nothing out of the ordinary.

We are now halfway into the Dead Zone between Atlas and Shiva, trekking towards the north as usual but making slower progress than expected because of the high concentration of Grimm in this area. They are annoying to say the least despite being of 'a weaker breed' – which is by the way Ruby's favorite phrase to use and rile the hell out of Blake before they try to kill each other 'by accident'. Again. I suppose I'm happy that Ruby's actively trying to expand her vocabulary despite absolutely impure intentions, but seriously, why can't they just get along?

Back to the news. Just two days ago we encountered a few Atlas border patrols, and while I usually _love _the extra human company, for the first time ever all three of us unanimously agreed that these pesky little pricks are a serious threat to our group, and that we should avoid them as much as possible. Like sure, I was actually going to be the only dissenting vote and did try to be friendly with those guys, but then that one creepy motherfucking _son of a bitch_ tried to grope my butt and touch _my hair_. _My hair. _Needless to say I cooked the creepy bastard real good and left him smoking on top of some random branch. He totally deserved it; justice is done! Like who cares about a bounty or two on my head when my sister's already being chased by the most dangerous organization in Remnant? Right? Right?

Ah, damn, why am I writing the highlight of the day from two days ago? Oh my, that rhymes, maybe I can make a pun somewhere out of this… time? Pine? Lime? Whatever. I suppose there _is _nothing else I can write for the day. Or night if you will, with the moon hanging high in the sky and crickets buzzing so loud I can't bloody. Sleep. DAMMIT!

This is a problem. I will talk to Ruby, but her nerves are stretched so thin by Blake that I doubt she will appreciate the disturbance. As for Blake… nope. That was totally expected though, like really, the day she makes idle chat is the day I write a dia… ry… aw. No luck predicting the future like a certain death note, I suppose. Not that I want to predict anyone's death, you know, _but_. Yep.

_Haaah,_ what am I going to do? Can't sleep, can't train, not even a dog to chat with unless I'm willing to talk to myself. Sure, I have two travelling companions who talk less than a statue, but I am not so desperate as to cross that line! Still, what to do, what to do… Wait. I have an idea. What if I write down all our adventures starting since day one, the day after Ruby and I left Jiu Xu until now? That doesn't sound bad at all. It will be quiet, and I will be spending all that brainpower until all that's left is sleep. Maybe I'll even figure out finally what day count to put into the title!

Alright then! Let's do it!


	2. Chapter 1 - The Dream

**Author's Note: And so we begin. I would've replied to you all personally, but I was off the grid for quite a few days and my phone isn't really the best medium to type, so the gratitude will have to happen here. Thank you for reviewing, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Day 1:<strong>

_Huang Lau Shan, _or literally 'Yellow Old Hill' in English, is one of the harsh, natural barriers surrounding the city of Jiu Xu. It was a jutting peak of 1,032 meters that's bare of almost any vegetation, and its dull, yellowish brown soil more than made up its namesake. At first glance it seemed pitifully small and insignificant as compared to the other taller, harsher-looking mountains that littered all around Jiu Xu, but only a stranger to this land would make such a misconception.

To start with, the hill was treacherously slippery. It happened to be at a sweet spot where rain battered constantly at its surface throughout the year, and as such the soil was so loose that even a misplaced footstep might threaten a landslide. The hill was shaped in the image of a long, sharp needle riddled with countless tiny ridges, and the last time someone tried to build a secure route across the hill, the entire structure plus a sizable chunk of the hill itself flooded half the forest at its base. Even animal trails; safe paths that could be tread with a bit more security were scarce because there wasn't much food to be found along its barren slopes. The only saving grace was that it was too treacherous for even land bound Grimm to cross, but in all honesty _Huang Lau Shan_ should've been unearthed since a long time ago.

Yet once upon a time, this accursed hill was the site of a great war. Long, long ago, during a time before Dust, there was a gigantic steel fortress built atop an even greater mountain, until a terrible evil came and obliterated it so thoroughly that only this thin, pitiful slab was all that's left. Only a handful of people knew about this forgotten history now, and it was through their efforts that the ancient site was preserved to this date.

"Is this one of Master Ju Long's discovery forty years ago, when Rose of Summer came across the city?"

"That's what he told me at least – _Huff! _– Da's a chronic liar, but he almost never lies about his old adventures – _Puff!_"

"Okay. But why are you telling me this story now? Do you mean to scavenge this place? I doubt we can find anything after such a long time, if we even know what it is or how to use it."

Yang stared at the red cloaked girl like she was crazy, even as she heaved herself up a big boulder before slumping flat on its rough surface, "Ruby, we're standing atop one of Remnant's greatest site of war. There's a giant steel fortress, and then a Grimm so powerful that it obliterated the mountainitself! Aren't you _excited? _Who knows, maybe there's even a vengeful spirit – a _mechanical_ vengeful spirit, since this was a _steel _fortress! – stalking this accursed hill, hoping to drag the next foolish soul into the endless abyss. Wait, what is that behind you!? _Uwaaaahhhhh!"_

"Not funny," Ruby Rose frowned even as she swung 180 degrees with a hand on her gun-scythe just in case, "Yang. I'm fine with your jokes, but please don't make one concerning the dangers of the road. It will be dangerous if I mistake your cries of help as one."

"Agh! You, you don't have to be so straightforward about that…" Yang deflated like a balloon as Ruby laughed apologetically at the tiny jab. It had been just a day since they left the city, and thanks to the blonde's familiarity with this particular land they managed to reach the base of the hill relatively quickly. After that, they spent an hour climbing up about one third up the slopes, with plans to skirt through the middle ridge so as to avoid the faster, but far more dangerous flat lands in between the mountains. No one could explain why, but there had been countless incidents where unknowing travelers had been buried alive by landslides just as they were about to cross the narrow path. Better safe than sorry.

As for their destination? Northwest was where they're moving at, and Yang vaguely guessed that was 'the Altar' was the checkpoint of their adventure. Until something significant popped up during their journey, Yang had zero qualms about that.

"Yang."

"Yes love?"

"I've taught you almost everything you need to know about survival. Forage, shelter, navigation and more. Let's test you. When is your watch? For how long?"

"I'm not sure verbally reciting over ten thousand words per hour counts as 'teaching', but… five hours of sleep between ten to three, and a short thirty minutes nap during lunchtime, right?"

Ruby nodded, "That's correct. What about during emergencies? Let's say, separation without a tail. What do you do?"

"Oh. Oh _that_ part. Actually, well, I'm still digesting so…"

"Yang, I'm not joking. This is _very _important," Ruby sighed before continuing, "Never mind that. Let's have you thoroughly memorize the basics again, okay? For a beginner, there are three things that you must never forget: Water, sleep, and goal. Are you near a water source? It is literally the most important thing when you're travelling outdoors. Get to the lowest possible ground and use your ears to pinpoint a rushing sound. If you're close, you won't miss it.

Next will be sleep. It's good that you have a camp, so there's no need to worry about building shelters yet. Me? I always sleep on a tree branch if I can ("Are you a monkey?") because it's safer and convenient. Speaking of which, you do _not _want to sleep too near a river in this case, because there are predators who frequent them during the night, not to mention those living inside the river. Always have a fire. They will keep most things away, and although the Grimm may still attack you won't be utterly defenseless in the dark.

Finally, direction. This is common sense, but you should know where you're going. You're not a celebrity explorer who drops in the middle of nowhere trying to make money out of the foolish and ignorant. Not to mention that nowadays, the need to travel by foot grows ever so smaller. Are you sure you don't want to fly to Atlas first and find me in a month or so, Yang?"

"Huh? Of course not! That will beat the whole purpose of _adventuring _itself, and I want to travel with _you_, not…" The blonde waved her hand about listlessly, "… _to _you, you know, if you get what I mean."

"I see," Ruby gave Yang a weird smile then before pressing her palms together, "Sure. But I must warn you again: the journey will not be easy, and I will be moving very _fast. _Efficiency is… _critical_. Are you okay with it?"

Yang laughed aloud and answered without thinking, "Is that a challenge I hear? Of course it is! This is my _dream coming true_, Ruby, it'll take more than just muscle aches or endless marches to hold me back!"

There was a gleam in Ruby's eyes, but the young girl turned away before Yang could make anything out of it, "That's great. Okay. We'll make haste for Atlas' borders in twenty days, and decide our next course there. Just in case, I believe we can catch a caravan or two for trade, so we won't be making stops at any town. Any questions?"

"None! Two hundred miles is just cake, sis! Oh, I can't wait to see Atlas already! Let's make it in fifteen! The greatest kingdom of science and warfare, here I come!"

"It's nice to see you excited, but we have to be realistic. Still," Ruby said wistfully, "Fifteen days, huh? I'll see what I can do."

* * *

><p><em>And that was our first day. To be honest, everything was pretty much normal until that point. We climbed a hill, we talked about a ton of stuff, and past <em>Huang Lau Shan _I'm already seeing things I've never known in my life. Hell, a few hours down the road we even get to beat up a few Grimm and feel good about it. It was exactly how I imagined an adventure to be, and damn, at that time I was high enough to forgive someone for hurting my precious hair. Probably. Maybe just a punch to the groin, but really, everything was just – _so – cool!

_But thinking back though, that was exactly why I missed all the silent hints; cues of the days to come. If only I wasn't so foolish, then maybe I wouldn't have been hurt so badly on that day. Of course, I didn't know her nearly enough at the time – and I still don't, even if we are closer now – but really, I wished I had learned about _it_ earlier. Even better, I wished she would just tell me._

_But of course she wouldn't._


	3. Chapter 2 - The Mine

**Author's Notes: Day 3 and 4 in one chapter. Suddenly I feel worried. At least 4 more sections to go after my latest update... I might have to write during weekends even though I'm totally uninspired on those days. Darn.**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Day 3:<strong>

"Holy cow, is that a _bird? _It's like a rainbow and looks so _cute!_ Oh wait, I know this! This is a parrot, isn't it?"

"That is literally the biggest, most colorful and dangerous-looking spider Grimm I've ever seen in my life. Do you think you can keep it still while I take a selfie?"

"Giant four hundred meters tall waterfall. Holy Wally. Must bath inside. Ohmababygawd. _Waterfall!_"

"Aaagh! It's a Deathstalker! _AAAAAGH! WHY DID YOU CLEAVE IT IN HALF BEFORE I CAN TAKE A PICTURE?"_

Yang was super high. It had been three days since they've truly left Jiu Xu far at their backs, and her ridiculous euphoria had lasted about just as long. Mere mortals would have dialed back the constant squeals of delight, or at the very least learned to mask them with something like a cough or a fart or both. Yang Xiao Long simply squealed longer until even the birds fluttered away into the sky to escape the relentless aural torture.

"Hey Ruby! Look at this piece of shiny rock, it's – no wait, is this… Dust? By Remnant, are we entering a _mine?_"

Dust. By definition it is a naturally occurring energy propellant that can be triggered by aura, but in reality much of its structure or composition remained a mystery to mankind. To this day no one could even explain the most fundamental question of how Dust came to be, but we do know where and how to find them.

The most common forms of Dust were mostly discovered beneath the ground, and they were usually excavated from quarries or open-pit mines. The deeper one dug, the better the quality of Dust that could be found, and the more potent the energy they contain that could be used for many different purposes. Even a fist-sized, grade B Fire Dust contained enough energy to potentially blow off an entire cliff. Because Dust was so important and people with the expertise to manage them so valuable, the health and safety of workers in this field – especially the miners – were given the highest priority even back in the days when poverty and war plagued the lands.

Nowadays only the dubious, the powerful, or both would employ more questionable methods such as cheap, disposable labor to maximize productivity, and ironically the current top Dust mining producer was one such corporation – the Schnee Dust Company, the largest Dust producer and manufacturer of the North. Some shallow people thought that it was only natural they were at the top since it was given full support by the government, but the truth was the exact opposite. Without the Schnee Dust Company, the Shiva Kingdom would not have been able to maintain its neutrality and be absorbed into Atlas since a long time ago. After all Dust is power, and wielding the world's best Dust technology coupled with ownership over many Dust reservoirs in Remnant, no one dared to challenge Shiva knowing that a fearsome retaliation would always be around the corner.

However it was rumored lately that the corporation and even the Kingdom itself was considering a… _change, _and unbeknownst to the public a certain queen was waging her own personal war against the enemies that would threaten everything she believed in and upheld since her reign. But that is a story for another time, and as Ruby wiped away at a dusty nailed board near the entrance wall to reveal a queer snowflake symbol, she nodded to herself and said,

"Yes. This is an abandoned mine that will lead approximately twenty kilometers ahead, before emerging just beyond the Snake Jungle."

Yang grinned and pumped her fist excitingly into the air, "Really? Oh yes! I'm feeling a bit averse to undergrounds after last time, but this is it! This is my_ first ever dungeon crawling adventure WOOHOO!_"

Ruby cocked her head at the strange outburst as if she never heard of the term before, but the emotion quickly passed by as she said curtly, "We will be here for two days, possibly five if the usual paths are blocked. Do not shout. Use flashlights only, and do_ not _light a fire no matter what. It's time."

"Oh, I know! It's because of the residue of pure dust and potential combustible gas formations – hey! Wait for me!"

Yang rushed up towards the walking Ruby, and tried to put a hand onto the young girl's shoulder. To her surprise though, her palm hit only air as Ruby deftly slipped out of the way without even looking back. She tried one more time only to face the same results, and it soon turned into a bizarre game of tag where Yang literally threw herself at Ruby hoping to get in even a single touch. But no matter how many times she tried she could not even reach the edge of her cloak, and soon the blonde huffed and puffed before holding one hand over her elbow and complained,

"C'mon sis, why are you dodging? I just want to hold you a little!"

There was only silence. Ruby said nothing as she held a beam of light before trudging into the darkness as if she hadn't heard at all. It was only then it occurred to Yang, even as the haze of excitement inside her head finally dimmed a bit, that until just now they hadn't talked to each other at all since two days ago.

… Nah. It's just her imagination.

* * *

><p><span><strong>Day 4:<strong>

A pair of footsteps, one steady and the other somewhat lethargic resounded throughout circular tunnels as loud as a thunderclap. Amidst the absolute darkness a single beam of light cut through like hot knife through butter, and a pair of travelers walked through blackened hallways at least fifty meters underground.

Yang flipped open her scroll wearily and checked the time. According to her scroll, it had only been fifteen hours since they stepped into this heart of darkness, but she felt as if she had been trapped here for almost a whole month. Her initial enthusiasm had long since disappeared. No matter where she looked it was rock and earth, Dust and even more dust, and a permanent blanket of shadow weighing down on her soul as heavily as the wet, stuffy air did to her lungs.

Worse, most of the tunnels were small and narrow; not enough even for her to stand at her full height. The mine railway tunnels were the only exception to the rule, and although she tried talking Ruby into hopping in for an easy ride, the young girl didn't even answer as she breezed past the minecarts without so much a look. Most likely the wrong way out then. Therefore Yang had no choice but to squeeze along with the young girl through a series of interconnected tunnels and suspicious-looking holes so god damn tight she suspected were natural cracks caused by earthquakes or whatever.

"Hey sis… How much further do we have to go?"

A parting glance, the barest shake of the head. That was all the reaction she got from Ruby. Yang hummed absentmindedly and fell right back into silence. She wasn't feeling all that chatty herself, especially since voices tended to echo with unnatural loudness until they faded away into the distance. Perhaps the tunnels were intentionally designed like this so the miners could communicate with each other easily, but all it did for Yang was to amplify the irrational fear of _something _hidden further down the road, waiting beyond the curtain darkness.

_Katakk… krahh._

"– What was that!?" The blonde nearly jumped when she heard a strange noise from a gap to her left. Her muscles were taut, and her breathing had quickened to an unnatural pace. _It's just a falling stone, _she told herself, _stop being a scaredy cat and get a hold of yourself! _

But she could not. When did her hands start shaking? She didn't even realize it was so _cold._ Yang never thought herself to be a claustrophobic, but when the world swayed and the walls seemed to shrink ever so closer as if to crush her, the blonde could literally feel the panic rising up to her throat.

Yang didn't understand it at the time, but she was actually experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for the very first time in her life. The war at Jiu Xu had affected her deeper than she thought, and being stuck inside a cave not too dissimilar from the site before was enough to trigger the symptoms. Suddenly her vision became filled with light, and Yang knew without looking that Ruby had turned around to check out what was going on. She felt both dizzy and pathetic. With difficulty, the blonde spoke,

"I'm… sorry. I don't know what… came over me. Give me a… minute. I'll recover."

And she did, eventually. After one, two, five, thirty minutes of deep breathing and intense self-criticism, Yang eventually felt like herself again and finally climbed back to her own feet. She apologized solemnly for wasting both their time, and swore with carefully hidden doubt that it wouldn't happen a second time. Before long, the duo was back on the move.

Throughout the ordeal, Ruby said nothing and did nothing at all. She just watched.

* * *

><p>"W – Agh!?"<p>

It came without warning. Three hours had passed since the strange bout of weakness, and while Ruby betrayed nothing Yang was obviously still mulling over the matter and afraid of a second spell. But suddenly a pouch of water splashed down right on top of Yang's head, and all those thoughts instantly disappeared as the blonde jumped and nearly bumped her head against the low ceiling. In a daze, the drenched blonde ran a hand through her hair and muttered, "Holy _shit_, just what the hell is…? Rub – _Whoooaaaaaaaaaa?!_"

They were running. All the sudden, Yang felt herself gripped tightly on the wrist before being yanked forwards by an incredible strength. At first she had tried to resist, but the moment she saw Ruby's silver eyes staring back with terrible agitation she quickened her footsteps until they were almost flying past the corridors. Even then the young woman still did not understand their sudden, almost frantic escape – _why are we running? What's going on? We're going so fast I'm almost certain that we'll run into – GAH! That was way too close! We need to slow –_

Yang's thoughts were cut short when a deafening explosion exactly where they were at before, followed by the unmistakable roar of rushing water that drained away all the blood on her face. That was enough motivation she needed to run faster than she ever did in her entire life. But no matter how fast they ran, the deafening rumbles only grew louder and louder until Yang was sure as death that the killing water was right behind them.

She wasn't wrong. Within seconds the tidal wave was lapping right against her feet, and before she knew it an impossible weight slammed into her back and fell her like a sack of rocks. It was upon her. She breathed in, trying to catch a gulp of air for yet a new burst of strength. She really shouldn't. The water gushed mercilessly into her lungs even as she realized the terrible mistake, and then she was drowning amidst a tide so black she couldn't even see. Yang flailed wildly trying to fight against the unstoppable current, but it was meaningless. She couldn't even _see_. _Am I dying? Am I going to die? I'm dead. I'm dead. I'm DEAD –_

Suddenly she felt a sharp crack at the back of her neck, and her consciousness faded away into nothingness.

* * *

><p>When she woke up it was cold.<p>

Yang never minded the cold, nor did she dislike rainy days just because she had a 'sunny' attitude. It was simply the delusion of a stranger who knew nothing about her. There were days when the temperature in Jiu Xu could reach an obscene scale of 44 degrees Celsius, and on a cloudless day it was hot enough to cause someone a stroke. So not only Yang don't mind the cold at all, sometimes she loved it so much it'd take a Goliath to pull her away from air-cons, ice cream and shades.

But now it was different. The first sensation she awoke to was of a dirty, cold floor pressing against her cheek. Bright light poked offensively at her eyes. The blonde coughed and gagged as she felt icy tendrils biting deep into every corner of her body, and once the shiver began it simply could not stop. At least her senses were too numb to feel much of anything, but Yang wasn't sure at all if that's a good sign. Even her hair was damp; she couldn't remember the last time she went to bed without drying her hair. What happened? Why was she sleeping on the floor? Wasn't she travelling –

_Oh. _Oh.

Abruptly, Yang pushed herself up from the ground – nerves and bones cracking painfully at the sudden movement – and gasped in a big, big gulp of air. Stale, humid, metallic, but definitely _air. Oh my god I'm alive. I'm alive. But how? It must be _–

She swung her head to the left, and saw a pair of silver eyes staring right back at her. Yang could hardly describe her joy and relief to see the young girl huddled at one corner of the room while covering herself completely with her cloak. The blonde said breathlessly with gratitude,

"You saved me. Thank you. But, but _how? _I thought I was down and – The flood was totally over me –"

Unexpectedly, the young girl raised a pale, white arm through the folds of her cloak and pointed directly at her center. Slightly unnerved by the indecipherable reaction, Yang followed the finger's aim and looked down towards herself. At first, she didn't find anything out of the ordinary. Well, maybe with exception to the fact that she wasn't wearing her jacket. Or her singlet. Or her gauntlets. Or even her pants actually. Hmm? Speaking of that breeze brushing against her butt –

"–_EEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKK!?"_

For the next few hours, bold and hot and fearless Yang Xiao Long obediently wrapped herself within a blanket and stewed as red as a tomato.

* * *

><p>"So… uh, close call, right?"<p>

By the time Yang finally spoke again – this time fully clothed in her reserves although she still had a blanket wrapped around her, and thank heavens that her bags were water resistant – it was already dawn. Or at least that was what her scroll indicated at the top right corner of the screen. Daylight didn't hold much meaning in this lightless place.

"Where was I before… right. It was your Semblance, right? It was the only way we could've gotten out of that alive."

They were now resting inside what seemed to be a particularly large room that was not a room. It was a crossroad of sorts, the intersection point of at least eight visible paths. But perhaps it was used more as a gathering hall of sorts, because there were obvious signs of human life such as footprints and empty liquor bottles. Yang gingerly poked one with a foot before walking away in search for more interesting forms of distraction,

"I can't imagine how you managed to drag me up from the floor though, especially since I was knocked out… Hmm? That's weird. How did I fall on my neck when I was already down…? Oh, whatever."

That got a reaction from Ruby, and the stoic girl had looked up briefly towards the blonde. But the moment Yang turned over she had closed her eyes again and turned over as if trying to catch some sleep. In the dark illuminated only by a powered down flashlight, Yang had missed the temporary gaze. The blonde scratched her head wryly before continuing,

"I must've been heavy, eh? Not to mention the bags; I was _so stupid_ not to drop them off first thing when everything went crazy. How can they even build a tunnel under that underground river or whatever in the first place? My god!"

Ruby Rose rustled a little in her blanket, and Yang nodded seemingly taking it as some kind of response. Slowly, the blonde walked a circle around their refuge, inspecting each and every one of the tunnels in deliberation. Her breathing hitched just a little as she traced the wet soil and stone with her fingers, the reverberations of the flood still tingling atop her skin. She shook off the memory quickly,

"Er, so, sis! How close are we to the exit? Are we still on track? I hope we haven't strayed off path too much. Sis? Hello? Are you listening?"

This time, the sleeping figure was completely silent, and Yan quickly gave up knowing that Ruby was probably awake throughout the entire ordeal looking after her. She must be tired beyond speech. The only thing Yang could do right now was to watch over her – _this makes it twice, now. I can't owe her forever – _but she was going to make damn sure that Ruby gets as much rest as she could get before they restart their journey.

That being said –

"Hey Rubes, I know you said not to light a fire," Yang mumbled quietly while scooting ever so slightly towards the girl, "but it's _really _cold down here, and this blanket really isn't enough so… do you think I can just… stick to your back a little? You know, to keep warm…"

The blonde watched Ruby closely until she was right beside her. Then, slowly, deliberately, she turned around and pushed herself backwards until finally, their backs touched. Ruby did not move away. Suddenly Yang felt an uncontrollable urge to laugh, and she managed to hold it back after a titanic effort. But still she could not hold back the tears trickling down her cheeks. _This warmth…_

It was almost familiar.

* * *

><p><em>Despite that rather exciting incident, we got out of that damnable hellhole six hours later without further trouble. If I had any doubts about Ruby's navigational skills before, all that was gone the moment we saw daylight. More importantly, it was at that point I swore to myself that I would do anything to repay my debt to Ruby. I trusted her completely as one of the best friends I could ever have, and I believed that she thought the same of me too.<em>

_Well, it just goes to show how little I understand about her, or even myself._


	4. Chapter 3 - Arrogance

**Author's Notes: Spot the reference.**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Day 5:<strong>

It was a good day. The sky's sunny, the grasses were green, and Yang was humming so cheerfully that it was almost annoying.

Ruby's expression was the same as usual though. Rigid, silent, tightlipped.

"Hey sis! Howtcha doing?"

"…"

"I was thinking, that bag of yours look quite heavy. If you don't mind, I can definitely carry it for you!"

"…?" A crook in the eyebrow. No words either, but Ruby was staring at her. Yang was going to flat out admit that it was a way of saying thank-you-very-much-for-saving-my-life, but for some reason the situation suddenly felt embarrassing. So looking away, the blonde scratched her head and muttered,

"It's because, well, you _know_, because you… _helped me_… and well… ahhh! Just give me the bags already, and we'll call it training under stress or something GUWOKRKAK?!"

The transfer was instantaneous. One second she was mulling over an insignificant dilemma, and the next she was crushed beneath an unexpected weight. What the hell? These had to weigh twenty kilograms at least! And now that she was all tangled up by the bag handles, she couldn't even climb back to her own feet!

"Uh," Yang poked a palm out of the mess and waved pitifully, "A little help here, big sis? Ruby? Please?"

There was no response. Slowly but surely the footsteps faded into the distance. The poor blonde groaned.

* * *

><p><span><strong>Day 6:<strong>

Today was pretty special. While they were grunting through a wild plain, Ruby Rose had suddenly ducked behind a nearby rock with Yang following suit quickly after a second's confusion. It wasn't a moment too soon, because a herd of deer emerged right then from behind a small slope to their two o' clock.

Ruby fished out a knife from her back and balanced the blade between her fingers. The young girl's gaze held intense concentration, and Yang held her breath. Her big sis was an expert survivalist and master of the wild; of course she wouldn't need her sniper rifle for something as trivial as hunting fresh meat. That'd be like lighting a smoke with her gauntlets, like _so_ totally overkill. _This is going to be so cool! _Finally the young girl found the perfect timing, and leaned back just a little like a spring ready to recoil. Yang gulped nervously. Then the young girl flung her arm outwards with absolutely perfect form, and the knife –

– breezed right past Yang in a straight line before landing a good fifty meters away. The blonde did not seem to comprehend what happened until she touched a hand to her right cheek and found traces of blood. She turned to stared dazedly at Ruby, and the young girl simply said,

"Oh."

"Oh? What do you mean _oh!?_" Yang Xiao Long shrieked and landed backwards on her butt, "What the hell was that? I thought you're an expert at this! Scratch that; even a complete newbie can't possibly throw _a hundred and eighty degrees off!_ Is this a conspiracy? Did someone hire you to kill me!?"

Ruby ignored all her rants and turned around. Incredible disappointment floated across her face as she watched the frightened deer bounding away into the distance. Yang was beyond incredulity at this point and she was about to further berate the girl until abruptly, she realized a terrible fear and looked quickly towards the ground. She screamed,

"Wait a sec. Is that… No. _No, no, no, nooooooo! _Frank! Andy! _Lewis! _How can you do this!?_ How can you kill them!?_"

Yang pounded the floor with earth shattering fury, and cried so loud that it shook the heavens. The three irreplaceable companions she so mourned for, the only _lovers _she would give everything and anything even as they laid uselessly on the earthen floor, life slipping away into the oblivion were…

… Her hair. More specifically, three strands of golden hair that became the unfortunate victims of Ruby's 'incredible' knife throwing skill. Yang stood up shakily from the ground, eyes red and fists clenched, as she said quietly towards Ruby,

"You are my friend, and twice you've saved my life, so I'm going to give you one chance. Apologize to my poor babies whom you so cruelly _murdered, _and I may just forgive you. _Now._"

Ruby still stared longingly at where the herd of deer vanished into the horizon. A bit of saliva almost trailed down the corner of her mouth, but she wiped it away.

"Very well then," Yang Xiao Long smashed her fists together and strode purposefully towards Ruby. It would seem that today, she would mourn for _four_, "It is with great sadness I do this, but there can be no right in this world until the deaths of my beloveds are avenged. NOW DIEEEEEEEEEEE, RUBY ROSE!"

And so another day passed, with Yang racing after Ruby with righteous fury, and the latter dodging every shot or punch while carefully herding the wild human towards the right direction.

* * *

><p><span><strong>Day 7:<strong>

A bath is important. Not only does it keeps a person clean and healthy, it also relaxes the muscles and soothes the mind. Yang loved it. Her wonderful hair notwithstanding, she also believed that a good bath was absolute integral in starting the day off with a bang. Or a Yang, of course! Get it? Get it?

As human population grow and technological advancement rampant across all Kingdoms, it was getting harder to find clean rivers especially those downstream or leading towards the sea. So naturally, Yang was very happy to find a clean river where they could take a dip in and wash themselves. Barring the stupid mine incident, she hadn't bathed even once since the start of their journey. Since they were on the road this was to be expected, and Ruby seemed totally fine going for days or even weeks without one, but unfortunately Yang hadn't got used to it yet. She especially _ached_ to wash her precious locks.

They were now set at an open river bank, with Ruby testing the waters to see if it was safe, and Yang just finished setting down the luggage. Once done, the blonde eagerly pulled out a few choice bottles of shampoo, and stripped herself to bare on the spot before jumping into the river with a loud whoop. On the riverbank, Ruby did the same – to which Yang tactfully took a look at the other direction, because who knows, Ruby might be one of those who did not appreciate their bodies being stared at – and carefully wrapped a towel over some choice belongings in a bundle to carry. Then, she walked towards a far, far, _far _away spot upstream where Yang could just barely see her tiny figure, set her things down, and finally get into the river to bathe –

"Wait. That's not right! Why are bathing all the way up there!? Don't be shy!" yelling, Yang splashed through the water with stomping feet and made her way towards the young girl. As usual, Ruby did not answer her and merely casted Yang a curious look when the blonde finally reached her. Yang look at the clueless girl exasperatedly; it didn't seem like a conscious decision, so maybe she was just… not used to bathing with someone else?

The blonde shook off the trivial question and said with a smile, "Never mind. C'mon, I'll help wash your hair! Yours don't really need much maintenance, but a woman's hair is her life and I am _very _good at it!"

Yang waved a hand over Ruby's own, and missed. She frowned. Wave, miss. Wave, miss. Slowly the blonde placed her hands on the waist before glaring at Ruby with a stern face she had never used before, and said,

"Big sis."

There was no reply.

"_Ruby."_

This time, the girl jumped a little and stared warily at Yang. The blonde's eyes held not the slightest amusement as she spoke slowly and deliberately, "Look. I can kinda guess that you're averse to touch, and I respect that. But we are now in a _bath, _where people sit down, relax, and _enjoy_. And if there is more than one person, then we enjoy bathing _together. _That means no acting like a mouse that's scared of everything."

Yang took one step forwards, and Ruby took one step back. Yang raised a menacing eyebrow and stepped forwards one more time, and although the redhead was now glaring almost antagonistically right back at her, she did not retreat this time. Yang nodded with satisfaction and looked at the only two shampoos she grabbed before coming over. After a frown and a thought, she chose the smoother, light blue colored shampoo and commanded,

"Sit down at that rock over there. Don't worry, I'll be right behind you, and _don't move your head away or I'll_ _drown you in water, you hear me?_"

The death threats didn't seem particularly motivating, and Ruby looked like she was ready to bolt. In the end, she resigned herself to her fate and sat down unwillingly at the pointed spot. Yang moved gingerly behind, trying to find a sweet spot on the flat side of another rock, and after some time finally began. First, she got a water scoop and pour water over Ruby's hair until every strand seemed drenched and loose. Then, she began massaging the shampoo starting from the center in a circle, to spread them out evenly. Yang was careful to make sure that every root was covered, before she began massaging with both hands in a slow but deliberate fashion.

Ruby was stiff at the beginning, naturally. She had obviously never done something like this before, and being forced in by a threat didn't exactly spark her best interests. But as time passed, through Yang's deft and powerful hands pushing and stroking away at sweet spots she didn't even know exist, the young girl finally began to relax and let go. Her shoulders lowered visibly, and her breathing slowed until they evened at a pace. At one point, she wobbled before Yang caught her by the shoulders, and the blonde realized that the young girl had actually fallen asleep. She smiled.

For the rest of the day, until Ruby Rose finally woke up (and fretted a little about lost time, but somehow there was no will behind those words), Yang stayed by her side and simply enjoyed the time passing by.

* * *

><p><span><strong>Day 9:<strong>

The Grimm are a peculiar creature. Fearless, monstrous, and born a natural killer, they would continuously hone their craft at killing until every human was completely exterminated from the world. Therefore, it was without exaggeration to say that they were one of the greatest threats of mankind.

But nothing in this world (except God, perhaps) was omnipotent, and the Grimm definitely have their share of stupid moments. The younger Grimm for example, had no sense of caution and could only obey their destructive instinct like a starved wolf. This made exterminating them a mere matter of convenience for any competent Huntsman, or even a trainee.

Yang belonged to neither category. She was _better_. In a split second she leaned out of the way of a charging Ursa before slamming her left fist into the flat side of its big, ugly skull. A shotgun round to the head was of course fatal, but her victim literally had its head torn clean off the shoulders, and she hadn't even put more than half of her strength into her fists. The girl could not hold the grin spreading all the way to her ears – whatever happened that day at Jiu Xu, it made her stronger. Much, _much _stronger than she used to be.

And she _loved _it.

"Torya! Eiyaa! _Wochaaaaa!_ Oh my god this is _so much fun hahahaha!_" The brawler laughed ecstatically as she dove right into another group of Ursi and began punching. Countless bodies littered the air before they exploded in a cloud of smoke, and within seconds the small group of Grimm that had assaulted them earlier were all but exterminated. Amidst the raining bones Yang stood alone with her gauntlets leaking smokes from its barrels and a bored look on her face. She complained,

"What? That's it? C'mon, I haven't even warmed up yet, aw! How're you doing, big sis?"

A series of mechanical clicks answered her call, and Yang smiled wryly before turning to face Ruby: her partner had already holstered her rifle and was looking coolly at her direction. There were only a few bodies littering the ground around her, so it would seem that she had left the main bulk for Yang to deal with. Normally, their roles would be reversed. Was it a sign that Ruby was putting more trust in her? The blonde simply felt giddy thinking about it.

"So, why the change of mind? You usually want them all for yourself!" Yang asked while wiping the soot off her clothes. The young girl said nothing though, and she treated it as an invitation to talk further.

"I'm not complaining, though. I've been feeling so strong lately, it feels like I can knock 'em straight to the stratosphere, hell yeah!" the blonde gave her hair one last sweep before walking towards Ruby, ready to resume their journey, "So what are we waiting for? Let's move on to –"

The world turned upside down, and suddenly she found herself flying through the air before landing with a rough 'oomph' on the ground. _What? What happened? _As Yang climbed quickly to her feet and looked backwards, she reeled in shock to find Ruby standing directly at where she was before, parrying away a gigantic Beowolf's swipe as it roared angrily at the failed ambush. The young woman paled instantly at the sight – a simple cut to the neck, and Aura empowered or not she would be dead nonetheless. _How in the world? I didn't sense any killing intent at all!_

The young girl turned to look Yang directly in the eye, then pulled the trigger. Instantly the Beowolf was sliced in half with its dying whimper still rumbling inside its throat. Then, Ruby retracted Crescent Rose and slowly walked towards the blonde, looking tense and almost _angry_. Yang tried to squeeze out a word.

"I –" Yang started.

Ruby breezed right past the blonde, nonchalant. She said nothing. The young woman tightened her fists into a shivering ball, but in the end she bottled up all those feelings and followed quietly after the girl. She would rectify this, Yang thought to herself. The next time they fight, she would never allow herself to drop her guard again.

But it was a pointless vow. She would not fight a Grimm again until quite some time, because every time the monsters strayed too close, be it one, ten, or fifty, Ruby Rose would kill them all.

* * *

><p><em>And I thought we were finally going to get along too. What was I thinking at the time, really...<em>


	5. Chapter 4 - Futile

**Author's Notes: Next week I have Monday and Tuesday off as public holiday. By that logic, is it fine if I delay the next chapter by 2 days, because you know...? Yeah...? No...?**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Day 13:<strong>

The past few days were a series of monotonous activities. Meadows and troughs, rocks and mountains, Grimm and wildlife; the duo passed through them all with the practiced ease of a seasoned traveler. Yang was developing remarkably fast for a newbie, and since her close brush with death she was acting more mature and thoughtful. Once in a while a Tree of Life (a huge tree at least ten meters wide that could easily house up to a thousand wild birds) would still make her completely lose her mind, but she was getting good at this. She was even starting to feel like a real adventurer.

_Or I would, if only she didn't…_

"Hey sis –"

She wasn't there. Yang was not surprised to find Ruby missing as she set her bags down while stretching for a bit, ready to set up camp. By now she had the menial tasks memorized to the bone, and within minutes she had the tent set up and a portable stove placed at the edge of the campsite. Then, she headed back inside her tent and laid down onto the ground, pondering her next action.

She had already eaten earlier, and it was a bit too early to be preparing dinner. Out of sudden inspiration, Yang took out her scroll and pulled up a virtual map of their current location. She found out that they were well beyond the only named terrain along their path, and by that definition dangerous – which was the Snake Jungle they bypassed through the Dust mine – and was now on a straight line path towards the borders of Atlas.

Optimistically speaking, they could reach there in three days or more, which would be just slightly over on her prediction (and of course, if they took a taxi they would reach there within the day). But she had learned it the hard way that things seldom went according to plan, and considering that they've had some minor delays, Ruby's twenty days projection was ultimately more accurate. And of course she was, her partner was the master of the roads after all.

… And, damn it. She was trying so hard to distract herself, bored enough to pick up a map and do math with it. But in the end her thoughts kept straying back to her partner. Yang could not help but be worried about Ruby, especially since she was starting to disappear more and more frequently without warning. The first time she did it, Yang had panicked and literally hollered about for almost an hour before the young girl finally showed up. Worse, the only reply she got out of Ruby even after repeated fits of protests was,

"I was scouting."

Yang hated it. _Scouting my ass_; she knew exactly what Ruby was doing but was helpless to stop her. It could have been tolerable if Ruby went disappearing only during camp times, but the young Executioner obviously did not share the same sentiment. Imagine wading through a river filled with poisonous snakes and quite possibly aquatic Grimm, and the only guide who could lead you towards the _right_ shore – she had seen the wrong ones ending in copious amount of blood – had suddenly vanished into thin air.

It was a grueling decision to make, or at least until a slithery feeling down her pants made the answer obvious and instantaneous. Again she was given the silent treatment when the matter was brought up, and by then Yang was simply too weary to persist.

And of course, yes, the god forsaken silence. It was another thing Yang could not understand about the red-cloaked reaper. At first she had thought it to be a temporary symptom, that maybe the young girl was just feeling awkward or embarrassed that she chose silence over speech. But now it had been almost two weeks since they departed from Jiu Xu, and barring the first day she could literally count all the sentences Ruby had spoken on one hand. Impossibly, the uncomfortable stillness managed to worsen even further – the two of them hadn't exchanged more than two or three sentences since that fateful day, and despite her tough exterior the negative emotions was starting to chew Yang from inside out. What was going on here? She screwed up _once, _sure, but she sure as hell did not deserve this terrible _indifference _from Ruby! It's almost as if –

"– Okay, I need to stop thinking. It's just a strange habit; I'll get used to it."

So Yang Xiao Long said to herself before drifting off into dreamland, hoping that her fantasies would keep the disconcerting thoughts at bay.

* * *

><p>It was high noon when she set out, and it wasn't until midnight when Ruby finally came back. During that period of time Yang had scouted out the perimeter, cooked herself dinner, played through some mobile games, responded to nature's call and basically exhausted every action imaginable for a lonely person dumped in an isolated jungle. Yang Xiao Long, sexiest lady in the world, <em>dumped <em>aside like she's worth less than a piece of tissue_. _Pissed didn't even begin to describe the depths of her searing frustration, and the blonde was finally resolved to wring an answer out of Ruby even if it meant getting into a fight she couldn't win.

But all that emotion disappeared the moment she saw Ruby walking in with her battle scythe on one hand, and a body riddled with countless scratches and dirt. Without hesitation, the blonde rushed to her partner's side and exclaimed,

"What's this? What happened to you? Are you hurt anywhere?"

"… I cleared out a nest."

Instantly her eyes narrowed. As a Guardian, her very first trial was to clear out the Beowolf packs lurking at the base of a nearby mountain. She was given two months to succeed, and as a youngster Yang had thought the task to be so absurdly easy she went in with barely a day's worth of water and supply. She had been so naïve. Had Lily not caught wind of the news and came to her rescue, she might've been toyed to death by the deadly predators far cunning and familiar with the terrain than she gave them credit for.

A pack consisted of twelve or more Grimm in a group. A nest or lair was the term people used to describe the attraction point of those creatures, and as you might imagine, there were a lot more Grimm lurking at those areas. Hell, there could easily be hundreds.

"Are you crazy? Why didn't you bring me along? I can help you!" Yang demanded while pulling the former Executioner closer towards the fire. Surprisingly, the young girl did not shy away from the contact and allowed Yang to do a thorough inspection. But she did not answer the question either. As the silence lengthened it was clear that was the end of the conversation, and for once Yang was too engrossed with the task at hand to chat further. After a few tense minutes, the blonde finally leaned back with a sigh of relief. Most of the tears in Ruby's garment did not reach the skin, and the worst wounds she found were just superficial. _She really is a league of her own, and I'm just..._

With that done, Yang went over to the stove and scooped over some pine soup before handing it to Ruby. It was obviously cold, but after half a day of hunting the gir needed all the sustenance she could get.

"Drink!" said Yang as Ruby looked on with puzzlement. It was a familiar delicacy, but the same kind of tree might differ depending on its grown land and climate. The red-haired girl shook her head before trying to move to another corner of the camp, but Yang would have none of it and held her grip,

"It's just soup; something to drink and feel relaxed after a long day. It's something mother taught me and I swear it's not going to upset your stomach. So _drink_."

Ruby frowned as she stared hard at the extended bowl. After nearly ten seconds' of consideration she finally took it to her mouth, then paused for an instant as she motioned for Yang to release her other arm. The blonde hesitated before doing just that, and the young girl swiftly downed the soup into her stomach fast like a thirsty drunkard. She handed the bowl back for a second serving, and satisfied, Yang smiled wryly and did just that.

As she watched over the red-haired girl, it suddenly occurred to Yang that this might be the great opportunity she's hoping for. This could be a sign that Ruby's opening up again, and even if it wasn't it was clear they needed to talk to each other.

"Hey, Ruby, there's something I want to talk about," Yang said while holding a tentative hand towards her partner's shoulder. She 'missed' as it slid just a fraction out of the way, but she did not let it get to her, "Maybe it's just me, but you're been real quiet after we left the city, and even quieter still since that… day. I er… Are you… okay?"

Suddenly there was a scatter of red petals, and before she knew it Ruby had brought back the whole pot and guzzling them down like she'd never eaten in her life. Yang swung back and forth between the faraway stove and the girl with an open mouth. How, what, _seriously? _She allowed herself precisely one second to gape before continuing as if nothing was amiss,

"Big sis, I'll be honest. I'm… _uncomfortable _with the way you are now. To begin with, why don't you talk? You're just fine back at Jiu Xu! What's changed? Is it a habit or yours or something, or… did I do something wrong? Did you actually… don't want to…?"

Again Ruby did not answer, although that's most likely because she was still sucking on the pine soup. Yang was starting to feel a tiny bit of regret for offering it in the first place, but she couldn't back down now,

"Okay, let's talk about the other thing then. Look, I… I know I made a mistake, a few days ago. My Aura is so much stronger than before that I got arrogant. I should've noticed that Beowolf; I should've checked before celebrating, I… fucked up. But!" Yang slapped a palm onto her thigh and spoke louder, "That's no reason to ban me from fighting! Sure you didn't say anything, but you've been killing every Grimm before they even get close! And don't think I don't know what this 'scouting' thing is about, you're basically –"

Abruptly, Ruby jolted up from her seat like a spring coil, giving Yang the scare of her life. As the young girl settled the empty pot to a side, she pulled her cloak over her face and waved an arm across her shoulder. Yang didn't understand at the beginning. Soon Ruby repeated the motion again with clear impatience, and she finally recognized it as the sign to –

Yang squeaked, "Wait, what? We're clearing out? It's twelve thirty midnight! What's the rush?"

"We are late," was Ruby's only answer. The young girl pulled up her flashlight and headed straight for the trees, ignoring the frantic commotions behind her as Yang scrambled to pack everything in before chasing after Ruby. They would trek through the untamed lands for ten hours without rest, before taking a short thirty minutes break to trek yet another ten hours. By then Yang was so exhausted that she had utterly forgotten all the raging questions she was going to bombard Ruby with. Therefore she had lost her best chance to resolve their communication problems, and her hesitation would give her no choice but to bottle up all of her emotions.

It was a mistake that she would come to regret.

* * *

><p><span><strong>Day 15:<strong>

It was late afternoon. The venturing duo trudged on a muddy path through acres of greenish paddy field swaying gently on both sides of the road. It was only fifteen days, and they've finished more than three quarter of their journey – an impressive feat on foot – but neither faces showed the slightest bit of joy and relief.

Ruby looked as cool as ever, seemingly unperturbed by the elements or the harsh march she had forced upon them a day earlier. She had faced worse conditions up North. Yang on the other hand, was obviously straining to keep up pace as her legs wobbled visibly every few seconds to the weight of her luggage and slippery road conditions. The blonde had aching muscles up her buttock she didn't even know existed, and her sleep was downright terrible since she had to wake up halfway for her watch. Ruby was downright draconian when it came to security.

But Yang hung on without a word of complaint. She was used to being pit against harsh odds as a direct result of parental teaching, and it was almost like old times when she recalled her first outdoor camping at ten years old. No, this wasn't the real problem. Unconsciously, the blonde turned to look left, then right, then left, and then right again until she caught herself just in time before losing balance. Yang shook her head, trying to clear her mind, but almost immediately caught herself looking again before grunting in frustration. It was hopeless; she just couldn't stop herself and she thought knew very well why.

This was only the second time they've walked on man-made paths, shoddy it might be – the first being the bloody Dust mine which she was keen to forget – and one that was completely peaceful without the need to worry for the Grimm or the wilderness. The countryside was not a familiar face, but it was still a piece of cultivated land and a face of society that raised unspeakable longingness within Yang for her home. The paddy fields, the man-made posts, the scarecrows; they all looked so wonderful to her. She missed the streets. She wouldn't mind doing some footwork with her lackeys. More than anything, she wanted to check up on Da personally and tell him everything had happened up till now.

But that wouldn't do. Yang slapped herself lightly, and this time kept her gaze focused steadily on the path. Missing one's home was never a sin, but turning it into an excuse for self-pity or weakness was definitely not the right thing to do. This was the path she had chosen, and despite all that had happened – well, it was only two weeks, but – she did not regret her choice. She would not regret her choice. Wherever her choice led her, she would see it through until the very end.

As Yang glanced at Ruby's back though, she couldn't help but complain just a tiny bit inside her heart. _If only Ruby will not act like half a mute all the time, then maybe…_

A raised hand. An abrupt stop. Yang barely braked in time before she noticed a growing dot at the furthest end of the road. As the thing approached accompanied by constant rumbles and short bursts of sputtering, the blonde realized with a start that it was a vehicle. More specifically, it was an old truck in fading white paint driving slowly towards them. Yang's throat felt dry. An unbelievable sensation had seized hold of her entire body, and when she finally found her voice she realized that it was simple, pure _delight, _

"Oh my god it's a _someone__! _Maybe they're trading – let's talk to them A-S-A-P!"

Without even waiting for the young girl's reply, the blonde bounded down the lane with the speed of light while waving her hands, shouting,

"Hello! Please stop, we will like to talk to you!"

A string of curses exploded out of the driver's seat as the vehicle skidded to an abrupt stop to avoid running into Yang. An elderly, long-faced man with long spikes of grey hair bobbed out of the vehicle and shouted, "Shiva! Don't run towards a car ya' idiotic buffoon!"

"Hahaha! Sorry, sorry, it's just, well, we were travelling on foot for quite some time," Yang grinned widely while apologizing with a wink; she had only just realized how much she missed talking to another human being, or at least not one that's quiet enough to be an inanimate object, "Anyway, I'm Yang, Yang Xiao Long from Jiu Xu. And you are?"

The old man looked her up and down sternly, seemingly judging her by her appearance to determine whether she's true or a just another bandit. Finally he gave a sharp nod before turning off his revving engine and stepped out, "I am One."

"I'm sorry?"

"My name, is One! If you have a problem with it then bring it up to mother! Seriously, it's _always _the same reaction," The old man said impatiently, "Anyway, I suppose you want to buy something?"

"Er, well," Yang made a mental note of their current provisions and realized that they… don't really need anything, "Actually, no. I just want to ta –"

"Let me make this clear," the old man cut her off instantly. It's amazing how such a weak, almost wimpy voice could carry such _menace_, "You ran up this _narrow_ road like a rocket. You risk me flattening you under my wheel or worse, swerve the whole thing into the paddy fields. After all that, you're telling me you don't want to _buy anything?_"

"I, eh, ergh," Normally this type of situations would be pancake for Yang, but her sleep deprived brain and overenthusiasm had tied her tongue in knots, "I'm reaaaaaally sorry, I –"

"– What do you have, elder?"

"Just call me One!" the old man snapped reflexively before looking towards the blonde left to find Ruby Rose staring back with her grey eyes. Yang jumped to hear her voice so close, at the same time feeling just a tad surprised, "Now who are you? Are you this girl's travelling companion?"

"Ah! Not like that, old man! You –" "_One!_" "– need to answer her questions directly first, or it'll be like talking to a brick wall –"

"I'm Ruby, and yes, Yang is travelling with me," Ruby said easily, and Yang felt her jaw drop open in shock. _Wait, what?_ "Also, as I said, please tell us what you have to sell. After all, we can't really buy anything without know what goods you have in the first place."

"… Hmph," One glared at the young girl, but Ruby seemed utterly impervious to his intimidation even as she gave an innocent smile that stunned Yang enough to fall on her butt, "I sell a lot of things; can't possibly name em' all, girl. What do you want?"

"Dust," Ruby said simply, "Ammo. We ran into quite a bit of Grimm along the way, and can use a refill. Let's see… 8 cartridges of .338 Lapua Magnum, 3 – no, 4 standard Dust grenades, and I still want to see your ware just in case there's anything I like."

"A _Lapua Magnum? _You carrying a sniper rifle with _that_ size?" This time it was the trader who looked surprised, but Ruby confirmed nothing as she cocked her head to one side and waited. Finally the old man grunted, "Well, not my problem. Give me a second to tidy things up, will ya? Wasn't expectin' this today so things a little messy."

That was that. Just as he took a corner and vanished from view Ruby looked towards the slackened Yang and asked,

"Yang? Is there anything you want? I remember you used up quite a bit of bullets too."

"I, er, I, sure, of course," Yang rasped from the ground, feeling both dizzy and incredibly stupid. She blurted out, "Wait. Ruby, you… you can _talk? _I mean, of course you can, but you… you _can _talk?"

Ruby looked like she was about to laugh. She replied with a tinge of incredulity, "What kind of a question is that? I'm doing that right now! Are you tired or… well, I guess you are. Stupid of me too, there."

"That's not… I mean…" Yang desperately tried to form words into her mouth, and after what seemed like a lifetime she finally succeeded, "Then why haven't you say anything at all this time!? I've been trying to get to you for _ages_, but you ignored almost everything I say and I don't even know why! But you talked to _him! _Just what is…"

The blonde stared at the back of the caravan while listening to the occasional thumps and tinkering of items. A grumpy old stranger with pointy hair had gotten Ruby to speak more words than they ever did for the past _two weeks. _The absolute bitterness dancing at the tip of her tongue was indescribable, "Just why, dammit!?"

"Well," the former Executioner's eyes glinted, "It's not efficient."

"What?"

"Because it's a waste of energy," Ruby waved a hand carelessly, "Trading is one thing, and we also need to appear normal or we'll attract attention, but otherwise I don't want to spend focus on pointless things when a Demon may just be around the corner. It's an extreme example, but you never know, especially since my stamina isn't that great. In fact, once you get used to this, I think you'll surpass me quite soon."

Yang couldn't breathe. It's like her brain had screeched to a complete halt. All she felt was this inexplicable feeling of _everything_ grinding through her body like a lawnmower, starting from her heart.

"Anyway, back to the point. What are you going to buy? You…" Perhaps she saw something in her expression, but Ruby abruptly stopped and pressed her lips together tightly, "Never mind, I'll get them for you. You seem really tired, so try and rest up as much as possible before I finish up here. There is one more obstacle, and it will not be easy."

Then she was gone.

* * *

><p><em>We bid the old man goodbye after we got the goods. <em>She _talked to a few more people along the way for information. Then we got back to the wilderness. The end._

… … … _Yeah. That's all I want to remember about that day._


	6. Chapter 5 - First Contact

**Author's Note: Longest chapter thus far. I'm a bit worried if I can meet the deadline next week, but eh, when the time comes I will have an ex - I mean, a chapter ready. Yeah.**

**As usual, thank you for the reviews!**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Day 16:<strong>

Admittedly, no matter how tough or gifted she might be in survival, Yang Xiao Long was ultimately just a newbie. She understood that there were many things that she was ignorant of, and while she did not necessarily appreciate every decision Ruby made, she trusted them to be of sound logic and even obvious once explained properly. If Ruby would open that super-glued zip of hers, that was.

That belief was shaken today by the incomprehensible sight going on in front of her.

"Hey sis," Yang started, "We are going to cross this cliff, right?"

They were now at Vytal's borders, where the good government had set up a toll about fifty kilometers upstream for all common travelers to pass by. Of course, they were anything but, so things had to be done a different way. Ruby set herself at the edge of the cliff and pulled out a massive length of rope from her bag. As she began affixing a grappling hook to it, Yang Xiao Long masterfully deduced that by utter stoicism her partner meant yes and prattled on,

"Yep, of course we are, the path to Atlas is on the other side after all. And of course I know that we have to avoid the toll because we don't want to be seen by people, no problem girl – but wait. Look to your right! Is that a _bridge _I'm seeing?"

The other cliff was completely bare of anything that might catch a hook and hold on. With the two sides being at least two hundred meters apart, getting across directly without a powerful booster of sorts was impossible even for Ruby Rose.

"It sure looks quiet up there! Like, not even a soul to be seen anywhere around it! How wonderful! I mean sure, it looks old and abandoned and has cracks all over, but it's stone-made so it'll have no problems holding our weight! It'll _get us across!_"

As Ruby secured the rope tightly around her waist and began doing the same with Yang's though, the blonde simply could not hold it any longer. In a flash, she made to grab – or at least tried to, _god dammit she's so fast_ – Ruby's shoulders before hissing down onto the girl,

"Ruby! There's a _bridge _right next to us! Why on earth are we climbing down_ a bottomless cliff _when we can just _cross. The. Bridge!? _Ruby? Ruby!"

Finally the young girl looked up to Yang with a strange smile on her face. The blonde was filled with anticipation thinking that the red-headed mute would _finally _enlighten her on the extraordinary choice, but in the end Ruby Rose simply secured the knot around Yang's waist before heading straight to the cliff's edge. Yang finally snapped: That's _it!_

"You know what? _Fine! _You go ahead and climb god-knows-how-many-thousands-feet down _and_ _then up_ to the other side, and _I'm _just going to cross the freaking bridge! _Later!_"

Without wasting another second, the blonde tugged roughly apart the rope on her waist and stomped away to the stone structure. She took a peek backwards to check on Ruby's reaction, only to find Ruby completely engrossed in finding the perfect spot and got even angrier. Soon she came to a complete stop directly in front of the bridge. It was then she noticed a number of things.

First, the bridge was a lot more fragile than she thought. From the side it hadn't looked that bad, but upon closer inspection there were a _lot _more cracks _and _gaps than she gave it credit in the first place. The next thing that gave her pause was the rusty old gate barring the way, and a surreal number of barbs wrapped around it like something right out of a nightmare. Again, she didn't notice it earlier because the side view was blocked by a huge boulder serving as a foundation to the bridge. _How could it look so different from one side to the other? This is as terrible as those facial cream advertisements! _

Finally, there was a half-rotten board on the side smeared with a crude but black bolded message saying –

'DO NOT PASS. EXTREMELY DANGEROUS.'

– and an official Beacon Academy stamp at the bottom right corner to sum it up. For those who weren't aware, Beacon Academy was the most prestigious Huntsman combat academy in the entire Vytal Kingdom, and to see their symbol so far away from central Vale meant a _lot _of something. By then Yang's impulsive drive had all but shrank into a pitiful ball of regret. _Ookay, _Yang thought to herself, _maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Guess I should go back. Yeah. Let's –_

Yang could never tell exactly what made her did it, because her emotions at the time were such a jumble of mess. It could because of… yesterday. There were definitely elements of challenged pride, and Ruby's lack of response seemed to say that she was incapable of crossing one lousy and _slightly _precarious bridge. Maybe she was just plain stubborn, which was her genetic nature and there's nothing she could do to fix it. There was also shame, anger, envy, competitiveness… so many feelings; too many to determine which emotion was the one that burned the final end of her rationality.

She could tell who started it all though. Cold silver stared into violet, and for an instant Yang Xiao Long saw red.

_Ruby. Rose!_

Yang Xiao Long tore her eyes away from the small figure and glared at the gate. At first she considered climbing over it, but that required a kind of finesse she couldn't be bothered to try now. A single punch was all that's needed to burst the gate inwards, and within minutes Yang found herself strolling through five, ten, twenty steps with surprisingly no problems whatsoever. _That went better than I thought, _the blonde thought smugly to herself, _it didn't look like a death trap, and then it looked like a death trap, but it wasn't a death trap after –_

There was a loud crack, and then the groans of bending steel. She never even realized what happened until she was falling through the skies.

_Oh mother, _she thought to herself, _I keep forgetting Lily isn't here to stop me anymore…_

Then a rock collided into her head, and she knew no longer.

* * *

><p>Yang woke up to the glaring white sun and an insistent prodding at a sore part of her head. In a daze she tried to swat away the source of her discomfort, but soon discovered that it was only Ruby dabbing a wet cloth to her wounds. The young woman groaned aloud as the rough treatment hit a sweet spot, but she neither moved away nor tried to swat at it again, knowing that her fingers would only hit nothing but air. She opened her mouth a little, sucked in a deep breath and asked,<p>

"Where are we?"

Her mind clicked even though there was no answer. The whole fucking bridge had collapsed, and she was knocked out by one of the splinters before she had time to reorient. _What a wonderful day this is turning out to be. _Surprisingly enough her body was relatively unhurt, and even the luggage she carried behind her back seemed fine despite looking a bit battered. Either she was unbelievably lucky, or…

"I see. There's a shallow path on this side of the crevice. No wonder you didn't stop me," Yang couldn't help but laugh sarcastically, "Or maybe you thought it was enough to get rid of me, eh?"

Even as the words spilled out Yang recoiled in horror of herself. What was she saying? It was her own stubbornness that had led to this outcome, and Ruby had taken care of her for the entire time she was unconscious. What on Remnant had gotten over her?

"I – sorry. That's not what I meant. Forget what I said, I…" for some reason, the simple words felt as if came they were squeezed out of a tight tube, "_Thank you_. Again. Anyway I'm fine, so let's get going shall we?"

Yang pushed herself up from the ground and fought off the slight vertigo that came with it. She waited to see if Ruby wanted to do anything else with the blood stained cloth, but the young girl easily allowed the interruption and rose to her feet. She glanced once at the luggage and back towards Yang, and finally a smile peeked through as the brawler said wryly,

"No rest for the wounded, I see. Just give me a second to get ready and _don't go disappearing _on me, I have _no _idea where this place is and I can't climb back up by myself."

The red head did not. Ruby waited until Yang had the bags set firmly on her shoulders and gave her the signal, and only then did she start walking. The blonde suspected that Ruby acting more 'thoughtful' than usual was more due to the harsher environment than actual concern for her, but at the same time, she couldn't help but feel comforted a little in the heart. Yang wasn't sure whether to feel glad or ashamed to feel this way.

She threw the jumbled emotions into the back of her mind, and moved on.

* * *

><p>The passage itself was like any other, she supposed. It was unexpectedly wide, with soft but firm brown soil paving the path they treaded and rocky walls to the right curving along into the unseen distance. To their left was of course, an incredibly steep decline into what seemed to be the end of Remnant. Once again Yang thanked the heavens that the bridge had collapsed almost immediately after just a few steps – anymore closer and she would really plunge into the abyss, and that would be instant death no matter how strong her Aura was.<p>

Occasionally there would be a normal-looking shrubbery or two which Yang could not care less, but was of great interest to Ruby. She asked, she didn't tell; pretty standard routine as far as she could tell. With the birds chirping from above their heads and footsteps creaking monotonous imprints into her mind, Yang could almost ignore the swirling white mist filling every inch of the land like a plague.

Ah yes, the mist. Up until thirty minutes ago since they had begun their descent deeper into the crevice, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. But suddenly white tendrils seeped into view like snakes, cold and indifferent, and soon they filled every space in the air no matter where they turned. It didn't take long for Yang to feel her skin sticky and her clothes wet, and it reminded her most unpleasantly of the days they spent inside that bloody cave. Although it wasn't nearly thick enough that it'd affect visibility, but she didn't like it one bit at all.

"I really don't see how this path can lead us to the other side," Yang asked aloud, but at this point it was more habit than an actual question, "Are you sure we're on the right track?"

To her surprise, she got an answer.

"Yes," the young girl replied tersely, before adding a few more words, "There is a way. But it is dangerous. Stay close."

Yang opened her palms behind her head as a gesture of casual understanding, but secretly she was surprised to hear so many words tumbling from the girl's mouth, and even more so to hear the word 'danger' from her. Certainly the mist seemed kind of sudden, but everything else had looked exactly as they should… or not. Casually the blonde stretched gaily and yawned, and as her eyes slid backwards she thought she spotted strange shadows hidden just behind the veil. There could be more where she could not see. _Bandits, maybe? The Grimm wouldn't wait. But who else would even come to such a place? _Regardless, if it was up to her she would drag the bastards into the open already, but since her partner betrayed nothing, Yang decided to do the same. Ruby probably had a plan of her own, and she didn't want to screw that up because of one unchecked impulse. The duo marched on into the unknown distance.

"… Speaking of which, this mist is annoying," the blonde brought out her compass and watched the needle go round the world as she muttered, "And I'm pretty sure this is in pristine condition when I used it a day ago. What is wrong with this place?"

The figure before her suddenly stopped, and Yang too came to a halt and waited obediently for Ruby's next move. Ten seconds passed, and Yang grew a little impatient. Thirty seconds walked by, and the blonde was tapping her feet and looking about her surroundings distractedly. After a full two minutes of inactivity Yang finally lost her patience and stepped forwards towards the young girl. She seized her by the shoulders and exclaimed,

"C'mon, sis! What are we waiting for? What are you –"

What exactly did she see, Yang was never quite sure. All she could recall was an eyeball lolling from its socket, and a rotten tongue so long it curled circles on the ground, and that was more than she cared to remember. It was ironic that Ruby's aversion to touch gave at least her subconscious enough warning, because she did not think she could have reacted in time otherwise even with ten years more under her belt. Just before its gaping maw could swallow her, Yang threw a soaring uppercut directly into its chin and sent it flying far, far away before crashing in a broken heap. Then, the brawler felt her legs go weak and dropped limply to her butt. What, in fucking hell, was _that?_

Every instinct in her body screamed that she should get the hell away as soon as possible, but Yang capped the lid of her panic forcefully. She had to know her enemy if she wanted to survive. With extremely stiff movements, walked towardsthe terrible monstrosity she just struck. Just in case, she fired three more rounds just a few steps away to make sure the thing was really dead, before moving closer to kick the lying corpse facing upwards. She gasped.

She had envisioned quite the grisly, tattered body with contorted limbs and bloodied teeth, much courtesies to the actual zombie-esque apocalypse that descended on her city just weeks ago. The mere thought of its tongue was so disgusting she almost turned tail and ran. But what she saw was completely not what she had expected to see.

The thing's chin was shattered of course, and there were countless cracks lining all the way up to its forehead. But what truly shocked her was the fact that it didn't even _have a face _in the first place. _Am I dreaming? _Its head was a smooth, metallic surface colored in a sheen of smoky white, and the limbs were a series of curvy metal bones interconnected by well-shaped balls held together by an unseen force. At the center of its cylindrical body was a small see through panel, and pale green light glowed eerily even as it dimmed little by little into nothingness.

Yang had never met something like this before, but she most certainly could tell what it was. Forged from molten and sculpted in alloy, an otherworldly being shaped in the image of Man before given life by Dust – it was a machine. It was an _automaton_. What were they doing here? How did she ever mistake this for a grisly, man-eating abomination? Correction, _when_ had it replaced Ruby Rose and pretended to be her in the first place?

As far as she could remember, she had taken her eyes off Ruby only once since she woke up, and that too was only for a second or two at most. Was it really possible for the automaton to have assumed its disguise and slotted between them in such a short time? Surely Ruby would've taken notice and done something about it? Unless…

"_No._ Stop thinking like that. What is wrong with me today?" Yang gave herself a slap and winced, "Maybe there's something wrong with this mist. Maybe I'm hallucinating. Maybe I haven't woken up yet from that fall – _ow! _Okay, not a dream."

Yang checked her gauntlets and made sure that every chamber was loaded. Under normal circumstances, she should wait at the same spot until Ruby came back for her. But inactivity suited her terribly, and she strongly suspected her heart literally wouldn't survive another jump scare like that. From now on she was going to punch first and ask questions later, and if she accidentally hit Ruby, well, she wouldn't hit her because the girl was more than capable of dodging out of the way.

* * *

><p><em>Oh right, the mist. I've totally forgotten about it because unlike our terrific adventure in Bamborsa, this one's almost normal. Excessive maybe, but just a fine haze of water vapor suspended in midair, and not some living black fog trying to stab you in the heart or grind you into a pulp. I have constant nightmares where I was literally rolling to death and can no longer sleep without a light. Sheesh!<em>

_Now then. Referring to Ruby's spare map, this passage we – or rather I, since she's not around – are trekking is once a large river winding down southeast a few hundred kilometers before finally meeting up with Seabrew, the third largest river in Remnant. Obviously it is all dried up now, and don't even ask how half the ground collapsed into a scary drop to hell, I have no idea and it's not important anyway._

_So what's the point of this geography lesson? Well, have you read 'Journey to the Center of Remnant'?_

_P.S.: I didn't by the way, but Ren did and he read it to Nora and Nora has a big mouth so ehhhhh punchline!_

* * *

><p>Yang couldn't remember when, but at some point the earthen path had taken a sharp turn towards the left, and it wasn't until a minute or so that she realized something was off. The blonde stared hesitantly towards the sheer drop to her left, and even backtracked to that particular turning point just to be sure. Was it just her imagination, or was this path… <em>connected <em>to the other side of the cliff?

"This can't be right," Yang muttered to herself. But even as she trudged further down the path, the other side of the cliff began to close in rapidly, and Yang went back and forth three times to make sure that it wasn't just her sense of direction gone awry. Her astonishment grew larger as the walls indeed came closer with every step she took. _But that's impossible! _It could be that the river ended here, but the leather maps clearly showed that it goes all the way to Seabrew. So unless the map itself was wrong, or…

Yang resisted the vertigo and stared boldly towards the abyss. It was a crooked, pitch black thing shrouded in thin white air, and even in full daylight she could not see its bottom. Was it possible that deep down below, there's a crack or hole that went through the ground she's standing on? It certainly sounded likely. But that begged yet another question: if the two sides were connected it also meant that the ground _above_ was connected, then why on earth did Ruby purposely come down here in the first place? Was it because of a crowd or town she wanted to avoid? Or was it perhaps a similar case like the defective bridge?

The young girl looked up the steep slopes and imagined a sudden landslide. It was discomforting to say the least.

"Well, figuring this out won't help my situation anyway. Better move on."

She walked further. The mist seemed thicker than before, and the space beneath her knees were soon completely shrouded in white. She was forced to tread more carefully with one hand on the wall just in case the pathway had thinned where she couldn't see. But there were no accidents along the way, and soon she was met with a perfectly circular cave entrance stretching nearly ten meters in diameter. The young girl tensed immediately; its clearly artificial origin strongly reminded her about the creepy automaton she encountered not long ago. The eerie fog here was incredibly thick as it poured out from the inside, shrouding everything in the unknown like an invisible wall. Yang hesitated. She tried calling,

"Big sis! Ruby! Can you hear me? I'm here!"

Her voice resonated throughout the valley, but there was neither a reply nor a movement anywhere she could see. The blonde sighed and glared upwards. There was the horizon that promised safety and relief literally right above her head, and yet if she was to reach there directly she would have to climb what seemed to be a few hundred meters of rock formations. She had neither the gear nor the skill to take on such a feat, and her left arm seemed to ache at that brief flash of doing it the really, really, _really _hard way. _Nope, not doing that again in a million years. _

Reluctant she might be, it would seem that her only choice was to enter a cave again. _All this trouble just to get to the other side of a cliff – can't we just find a giant trampoline somewhere? _Grumbling inside her own mind, Yang fished out a torchlight and quickly flashed it around. She saw nothing. _Good. _After a moment's thought, she called upon her Semblance and let the flames spread throughout her entire body. Hiding was pointless against automata, and hopefully this was enough protection against an ambush.

Yang Xiao Long sucked in a deep breath, and did her best to relax the stuff shoulders. Then, she walked into the darkness.

* * *

><p>Dark, cold, wet. <em>Too quiet<em>. That was her biggest impression as she marched through the tunnel feeling as if her shoes were pumped lead. The inner side of the tunnel was exactly the same as the entrance, concave and unusually smooth to touch. It's as if a giant laser beam had carved right through this mountain, and for some reason the thought soothed her not one bit in the slightest. She had tried lighting the path ahead but her fire wouldn't catch, and the glowing sticks were only barely visible five feet or less because of the mist, which in other words completely useless. She felt like a blind man, and worse her symptoms at the mines were surfacing into the open, little by little. She could not stay here. She quickened her feet.

Thankfully, the journey did not last long. Just fifteen minutes through what felt like the passage to Hell, Yang suddenly felt her surroundings lightened, and blinked her eyes multiple times to make sure. Her heart leaped even as she quickened her strides into a tempered run – learning her lessons and not let haste overcome her – and as she suddenly recalled her time at a night club, Yang put on a cocky smile and emerged into the opening ablaze in brilliant gold. She waited patiently for her eyes to adjust, and saw –

* * *

><p>"Oh. My. God."<p>

She was atop a hill, a small jut of protruding land with earthen staircases on each side leading down towards the ground. Strictly speaking, the land before her wasn't much different from the ones she'd passed; just another vast sea of lush green teeming with noisy wild life.

But there was a difference. To begin with, there were many concrete-and-steel highways streaking across the air. It wasn't an uncommon thing to see even in developing towns or half-abandoned cities, but Yang certainly had never seen them spiraling up and down, left and right, through and to _everywhere _like strings of a cocoon. Certainly no one could use a road looping in countless ovals so steep it might as well be vertical, or had any business driving through the clouds – _wait a second, those are mists; this is underground after all _– before dive bombing into a lake towards god-knows-where.

One particular road looped upon itself endlessly to form a strange shape, and as Yang gave up the details to stare at the bigger picture, she abruptly realized they joined together to form a beautiful building. More specifically it was an articulated pagoda, of densely packed stories and eight corner eaves stretching a humble fifty meters tall. With her lenses changed she tried looking at the world once more, and sure enough she began to spot low rising buildings above the flat lands, skyscrapers littered across the edges like watch towers, and even rows of neatly aligned strange bobs overseeing a barren landscape which purpose she would not understand until later.

That wasn't all. Before she had mentioned that the land was teeming with wild life, and there certainly were many considering the absolutely odd structure. She saw a pair of birds gliding through the air in unison, twirling loops around a road before vanishing around a corner. A herd of bull-like animals she'd never seen before grazed peacefully at a grassland a good few kilometers away, before seemingly noticed her gaze and trudged out of sight. A mountain rat even ran up to her feet and made some tiny squeaking noises, and when she tried bending down to touch it scurried away in an instant. All in all, these were what one would normally see in a protected zone. Nothing was out of the ordinary.

Or it would be, if the animals weren't all _automata. _Indeed, not a single creature she had seen thus far could be counted in any way as biological, and for some reason, she dared not say that they're not _s__entient__._ It was unbelievable. It was _beautiful_. She wasn't aware there were any Kingdoms in the world capable of such technology, much less bringing them to _life_ in such extraordinary fashion. How was this possible? How could _no one _know about such a marvel so close to civilization except a queer few like Ruby Rose? The stone ceilings were the only things that reminded her that this was underground, but it only served to confuse Yang even further. The last time she checked, the wall above the entrance was only about a hundred meters or more. This ceiling had looked much, _much _higher than that, and with the mist enough to be mistaken as the sky even from the hill she stood. She knew she had gone deep, but she hadn't gone _that _deep. Yang could no longer be sure whether she was still in Remnant, or a completely different world altogether.

One thing was certain, though. Yang held a fist to her chest and closed her eyes. She listened closely to her heartbeat, felt it raced faster and faster and faster until finally, she could no longer hold it in and _screamed_. The world fell silent, and even the wind seemed to stop blowing for a moment until she opened her eyes once more. For the longest of time she had just gone along with the flow, and even after taking the first step it never felt like the choice was hers to make.

But Ruby wasn't here, and this strange new world was right in front of her. She should be looking for an exit, she knows; she should avoid all contact with the strange creatures too, she _knows._ But _this_ was why she had left her beloved home and family; this was the _adventure _she had been dreaming about her entire life.

"I said I want to go to Atlas, and yes I still do," Yang whispered to herself, "But since I'm already here, it'll be a waste not to explore and have fun just a little longer, yeah?"

The brawler took a look at the staircases with an expression of disdain. Then she looked downhill over the edge and pondered for a second. Rock climbing was something she's poor at, sure, but _sky-running?_ Yang compared the hill with the skyscrapers in her memory and grinned like a wicked demon.

Then, she leaped.


	7. Chapter 6 - Heeelp

**Author's Note: So first, really sorry for the delay, I had a two full day training last week and couldn't write, not to mention that Monty's passing affected me quite a bit for a few days before I recovered.**

**I will be working on a separate One Shot for the RWBY Reddit MonCon themed 'Lie Ren' and 'Recovery', so do expect some delays on this fic since I have to complete that one before the 23rd.**

**As usual, enjoy the chapter, give me your thoughts, and stay sharp!**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Day 16: Late Afternoon<strong>

"_Steady, pretty_ – oh! Rrrg, umph!"

Yang fingered idly a bullet out of her pocket, and worked to plug it into the empty chamber of her gauntlets. The sweat on her finger meant that she nearly slipped, and with a soft curse she tried again with a stiffer grip, this time meeting with success. She breathed in, breathed out. Normally, the simple act of reloading was to her as natural as breathing. Not so much however, when hanging off a horizontal streetlight and vertically-slanted path reaching way up into the sky.

A long while after her epic landing – she couldn't tell time because none of her electronic devices were working – Yang had finally satisfied herself with harassing the local fauna ("Oooh, a mechanical rabbit! _I wonder how it looks inside – _wait! Come back! I was just joking!") and walked towards the closest highway she could find. She had three reasons: One, she wanted to get a better view of her surroundings. There were places she couldn't see because of the mist, and the highways were the closest tall structure she could find.

Two was that she needed to find Ruby, or at least attract her attention. Sure, she was somewhat _relishing _in this freedom she never got since they began their travels, but ultimately, the promise she made was to travel _with _her. Together. Maybe Ruby didn't really care about it, or she was secretly hoping that Yang, the unnecessary baggage would recognize her uselessness and drop off voluntarily. Her heart ached at the undeniable possibility. Yet Ruby had showed no such inclination throughout their journey – probably; she just couldn't fathom the girl's heart – and indeed it was just plain irresponsible to leave her without warning. Ruby might be capable of doing that, but not her. _Never _her.

The third reason was simple. It's tall, it's cool, and it's something totally out of the world. What _other _reason did she need really?

And that was how she came to hang on a horizontal lamp post few hundred meters off the ground, heaving deep breaths before boosting herself up in a powerful burst of strength and explosion. The combined force was just enough for her to reach the next overhead bar as she steadied herself immediately for the next jump, and then some more. It was the only way, for this particular highway tilted at one point a terrifying negative slope that Yang had zero confidence of climbing without a full mountaineering gear or a pair of angel wings at least. A single slipup there would mean the end, whereas her current method would at least guarantee her a thin bar that she could use to break her fall or more.

_Fifteen more to go. What a chore, _Yang thought wryly, _thankfully I don't mind monkey bars, but this must rank as one of the most dangerous shit I've done for the year. Voluntary ones at least._

She tossed the random thoughts out of her head, and focused on pushing.

* * *

><p>Unbeknownst to Yang, a pair of automated fox eyes was watching her from beneath the countless green canopies. Unbeknownst to Yang, ten pairs of automated rodent eyes were watching her from a faraway hill. Unbeknownst to Yang at the time, <em>every pair <em>of automata eyes were watching her with rapt and unified attention; calculating, dissecting, _pondering_ every packet of information before transmitting into storage.

And then there was one.

* * *

><p>The first thing the ecstatic blonde noticed upon standing on top of the world, strangely enough, was not the world itself. Instead, it was the roads.<p>

From a distance they looked just like your everyday highway, complete with functioning holographic streetlights and energy-based traffic barriers. But these were different. To begin with, there were neither traffic signs nor road markings that she could identify anywhere. To an extent she had already expected this, for these twisted paths were obviously built for a purpose that had nothing to do with human transportation.

"What are these… tracks…?"

But it seemed that her assumptions weren't entirely correct. Even before she began her ascent she had noticed that there were many rows of straight, parallel lines etched deep in the concrete surface. Deep as a drain, occasionally these channels would intersect with each other by horizontal lines, crisscrossing in a seemingly random yet organized way that reminded Yang about train tracks, or that boring school exercise where she was trained to build an electric circuit. The patterns looked somewhat similar, so maybe this was a conductor of sorts? Obviously it wasn't conducting electricity, or maybe the time wasn't right, but…

Yang gave up the line of thought immediately. Mysteries were often attractive, but she had no intentions to delve deep knowing that she had neither the knowledge nor the incentive to unravel them. Also, there's just no need to stress herself unnecessarily and lose hair, dammit! The wind blew hard yet soothingly against her cheeks, and Yang sat herself at the edge snuggly while admiring the greeneries. _By Remnant, was that a pack of silver wolves roaming through the plains? I need to take a picture NOW! _With practiced ease she fished out her scroll from her backpack and –

"Oh god damn it! Does it still not work here?" Yang growled in frustration before stuffing it back into the bag. She supposed it was time to finish her real business up here anyway, so she pulled out a flare gun and fired one up into the sky. The red glow looked magnificent from here, "That should work, I suppose. Now all I need to do is wait –"

After all the bombshells and knockouts she had experienced for the past few weeks, Yang had to admit she wasn't actually _too_ surprised. But it still wasn't any less terrifying when a powerful force knocked her right over the edge, and she suddenly found herself falling through the air screeching like a baby, "_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHH – GAH!?"_

The brawler's shriek came to an abrupt halt as she felt something sharp sinking into her shoulders, followed by a powerful pulling sensation so excruciating Yang nearly fainted even as she realized that she was no longer falling. Blinking through the tears Yang glared hatefully upwards, only to find perched above her shoulders the most humongous bird – an actual, metal-layered eagle with gilded feathers and piercing eyes – she had ever seen in her life. Hissing strange pops of gas and flapping airborne with a pair of steely wings that defied all common sense, it began gliding towards a certain direction with a speed that would've been totally awesome, if Yang wasn't hurting like someone had lit her flesh on fire. She struggled a little, all the while cursing like a sailor as the unbelievably sharp steel cut through her flesh like wet paper,

"Fuck _off, _you motherfucking sonuvabitch or I'll tear you a new one in the – Aggghh! Let go of me! _Arghh!_"

It was useless. Unless she was ready to tear off entire chunks of her shoulders she could not escape its vice-like grip, and she could not employ even a quarter of her real strength from that most awkward position. She could burn the damn thing's legs which would've been totally satisfying, but her flames weren't nearly as powerful as her Da's, and she did not relish the thought of having molten steel dripping on either her body or her hair. Eventually, Yang gave up. Whatever its purpose was, it did not seem like it wanted to kill her, or it could've just done nothing after it knocked her off the highway. In that case, all she needed to do was to turn that gut of fear beneath her stomach into resolve, and settle in for what might be a long, long run –

– _Not. _She felt it let go, felt a rush of pure panic as she tried to grab its legs and _missed, _then just screamed all the way to the ground as the roaring wind rolled her into an uncontrollable spin, "OH GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD I'M GOING TO KILL YOU YOU BLOODY BIRD RRRRAAAAAGHHH!"

Perhaps it was because this was the third time Yang stumbled through the air in a row that she managed to retain her ability to think. Yang fired off a round to slow down her rotation. As she looked to nose dive straight into a tree trunk, the girl scowled deeply before pumping herself just a fraction upwards, narrowly passing through a tight gap above with barely inches to spare. She couldn't help but squeal at the narrow escape. _Wait a second – this is actually fun! _A genuine smile finally broke through the angry mask she tried to wear, and even the wounds on her shoulders didn't feel nearly as painful as she whooped, jumped and _soared _above the canopies with each burst of her shotgun. This was a whole different thrill as compared to diving off buildings – it was as if she was really _flying!_

Eventually her momentum slowed, and the pull of gravity was too strong one last time that Yang finally relented and dipped reluctantly into a nearby tree. The tree branches were just soft enough for her to crash at the right angle, and she even managed to land on her feet with a quiet thump – not even needing the roll, which was normally a mandatory move to break the fall – and creaked open a wide grin. She totally wouldn't mind doing it again, although definitely without the rude liftoff and pointy things stabbing into her flesh.

"Damn that stupid bird," Yang muttered while brushing a finger against the shredded clothing, "And just who's going to pay for this? This is a custom made suit!… Screw it, I'm just gonna camp here and wait for –"

"Heeelp."

Now then, once again there were a few reasons why Yang did not respond to the pleas immediately. One, she had not seen a single human soul since she came to this place. Everything but the plants was automata, and even the insects were not an exception to the rule. To hear a human cry here was an anomaly, which led to her second reason: A trap. Plainly speaking, it was just too much of a coincidence for this to happen just _seconds _after the eagle had dumped her here. All these practically screamed of an ulterior motive, one that might not give a damn about Yang's safety considering how she arrived here, and despite being a thrill seeker Yang did love her own life so very much. As for the third reason –

"Heeelp."

The blonde pressed a palm to her forehead and groaned. That was it; the _tone _of the voice. She had never heard such a flat and listless and bland and _fake _cry for help, with not a single tinge of panic or tearing or fear or _anything _that made up, well, a cry for help. Like what the hell they didn't even _try. _And what on earth's with that absolutely unnecessary drag on the E alphabet? Was this a foreigner thing? Even a _hello _would sound better, even a _goat bleating _wouldn't sound so _boring._ _Okay, this is driving me nuts for absolutely no reason, _Yang thought to herself as she began to turn and walk slowly away, _you heard nothing, girl. It's just your imagination; it's just the blowing wind –_

"Heeelp."

"Hahaha. What an impressive tree I see over there! I'm just gonna –"

"Heeelp."

"Just gonna –"

"Heeelp."

"I –"

"_Heeelp."_

"_OH WOULD YOU JUST SHUT UP!?"_

Yang shuddered the ground with an angry slam of the foot, and with bloody red eyes she began stomping right towards the space from whence the voice came from. She didn't care if it was a trap or an automaton or a Demon _GAH whatever, _she was going to _wring _its neck and crush the throat and pummel the brain to bits before burning _everything _into a crisp. With barely controlled anger, Yang pulled away the thick bush blocking her path and –

"Oh! _Sal-u-ta-tions!_"

And that was how she met Penny, the only girl in Remnant she dreaded more than Ruby herself.

* * *

><p>(Day XX, Current Time. 3:34 a.m.)<p>

Yang suddenly stopped typing into her scroll. Her face scrunched up for a second looking as if she'd just eaten something really, really sour, and her fingers suddenly trembled at the memory of something she'd trade her life to forget. The blonde sighed at the sudden bout of depression and crawled up to her feet. It was time for a break. She took a step towards the nearby bush and –

"Yang."

"! #$%^&?!" she jumped. Very damn nearly screamed. From the darkness emerged a pair of yellow eyes, and Blake stepped towards her mouthing a hint of curiosity,

"What's wrong? You seem… excited?"

"Ohh! Hahaha, uh, it's nothing," Yang wiped off a bead of cold sweat off her forehead and laughed nervously, "Anyway, what is it?"

"It's your turn to watch. But if you are unwell, I can wake her –"

"No! Nonono, I'm fine, I can do it," the blonde forced a smile onto her face and said, "And c'mon, don't give Ruby a hard time, okay? We're all in the same group now, so just… try and get along."

For a few quiet seconds Blake stared directly into Yang's violet eyes, eliciting an unseen, forceful pressure that took all her self-control not to fidget like a child. Finally, the black-haired woman relaxed and said,

"Sure."

Yang blinked, and she was gone in an instant. The blonde glanced backwards to see Blake slowly lowering herself beside a tree bark at least fifty steps away. Theoretically she understood that Blake manipulated the shadows to instantly 'teleport' herself to another location, but it was still bizarre no matter how many times she'd seen it. It seemed that with every addition this team was getting more superhuman than ever, and she felt even more depressed knowing that she was bogging down the whole team. Still, the sudden interruption had taken the edge off her trauma, and for that she was grateful.

"Better not waste the firewood then, the night is still young…" Yang muttered to herself silently, and went about her business.


	8. Chapter 7 - It Was The Other Way Around

**Author's Note: That went far smoother than I initially thought - wrote this in less than 2 days! So I guess I sometimes still have it yay!**

**That being said, please expect a delay in the next chapter since Chinese New Year will begin in less than 3 days, or February 19th to be exact. I will still write, but because I'll be travelling to places _where-the-light-don't-reach _- I mean, without wireless access, so uploading may turn out to be a problem. The last time I checked, mobile phone makes terrible Wifi hotspots, so.**

**On a side note that I really wanted to say a long time ago but keep forgetting, Ruby suck at knife throwing because of her scythe wielding skills. Since she's used to twist her wrists, whenever she throws a knife she falls back to the same habit and shoots in a totally different direction from where she aimed. A little fun trivia for you guys and gals to know.**

**Finally, the next chapter is going to be a... yes, exactly. _That._**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Day 16, Early Evening<strong>

The culprit turned out to be a normal girl with curly orange hair and a pink bow at the back of her head. She wore quite the old-fashioned blouse with short feminine overalls, as well as a black and green collar to match an equal colored pair of stocking. Despite looking a little nerdy with freckles dinting the cheeks amplifying the impression, Yang noticed that her eyes were orbs of bright green alit with delight and intelligence. The girl by all means looked a perfectly normal adolescent one would easily find on the streets.

Or she would be, if she wasn't lying flat on the ground, unmoving and staying stiff as a board. If only she didn't lift a hand and wave it back and forth like a lever. If only she didn't stay exactly where she is, but still looked up and spoke in an overtly bright tone,

"Hello! My name is Penny! It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"… Uh, hi."

"And a good day to you too! What is your name?"

"I'm… Yang. Yang Xiao Long."

"That is a weird name! I believe it is not in the universal language, correct? Scanning database… are you Chinese? Hello again, Sunny Little Dragon! Or is it in the _Hokkien _slang, Sunny _Crazy_ Dragon?"

Yang had never regretted telling a stranger her name so much in her life, "God, no. Please just call me Yang. Also… do you want to get up?"

The strange girl glanced at herself for a moment before smiling, "So I do!" she leaps back onto her feet in a perfect arc and raised a hand towards her, "Hello! My name is Penny! It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"You've… already said that," she must have set a new record in Yang's-most-pauses-ever-in-a-conversation. Something about this girl just didn't do it for her. That strange way of speech aside, this Penny girl looked to be pure trouble, and already her instinct was calling to get away from the orange head as soon as possible. But despite that sentiment, she still returned a handshake hesitantly and asked, "So I heard your… call. For help. But you don't seem hurt anywhere."

"Oh!" there was actual surprise in those bright green eyes, and for a brief instant they flashed towards the ground. What did it mean? "You are correct, I am not hurt! But a Companion attacked me earlier, which is why I called for help!"

"A companion? You mean you're not alone?" Yang's voice held a grain of hope. So far she hadn't seen anyone, but if there were other humans settling here somewhere then, she might find Ruby there _and _ditch this girl all at once, "Well, barring the attacker, is there anyone you know? Your friends? Maybe I can bring you to them –"

"I do not comprehend the question. What do you mean by my friends?" the sudden interruption cut off Yang's words abruptly, and after a second's ponder Penny's eyes lit up, "Oh! No, I am not referring to 'companion' as in its general definition. I am referring to _Companion_, as in the _nickname _I label Synthetic Artificial Agent Sentient Basic version Three-O-O-One."

… _Okay that was _not _the answer I expected__, _"I'm sorry… what?"

"I will repeat: Oh! No, I am not referring to 'companion' as –"

"No no no _stop,_" Yang waved both hands frantically and in exasperation, "I'm not asking you to repeat everything! I mean… What is Companion? And explain it in _simpler _terms; with _examples _if you can!"

"Ah, I understand!" Penny nodded with a smile that registered none of Yang's distress, and turned ninety degrees towards her left. She walked towards a nearby bush and bent downwards to pick up a small and strange-looking thing, and when Penny brought it to the light Yang identified the object to be a beetle. A dark-colored, steel-plated curved horn beetle to be exact.

"This is Companion," Penny said brightly, "Category 'Bug', Emulated Life Form 'Hercules', and in simplified term, is what you call an automaton."

* * *

><p>This looked to be a long day, no matter how Yang tried to look at it.<p>

"I… think I get what you mean," the blonde rubbed a circle around her forehead, hoping to staunch the beginnings of a headache that would probably not subside anytime soon, "By 'companion', you're actually referring to the automatons. So you're saying that an automaton attacked you here, right?"

"That is correct!" Penny gave Yang a thumbs up, and all Yang wanted to give in return was a facepalm, "A Companion, Category 'Grimm', Emulated Life Form 'Nevermore', fell on me from the sky and attacked me. I pushed it away, but as a result fell to the ground and decided to call for help."

That wasn't something she could ignore. The blonde looked at the smiling girl in disbelief, and for the first time since the start of the conversation, Yang grew serious, "There are automatons here that emulate the _Grimm? _Is the maker of these automata _insane? _The Grimm doesn't even count as a life form! And a _Nevermore _attacked you? You're lucky to be alive!"

"Some say," Penny blinked once and twice before replying, "Some say that geniuses are often misunderstood. The Grimm is an Unclassified Dangerous Entity that has shown clear intelligence by their attraction to negative human emotions and thinking ability. Hence, it is not implausible to theorize that the Grimm has a will, and thus form the very basis of a life form."

Yang stared at Penny as the latter smiled innocently. Was it her imagination, but did the air turn cold there for a second? "Uh, okay, sure. I… didn't mean it quite that seriously, was just ranting because it complicates things quite a bit, because you know, if there's a Nevermore then god knows what else –"

The blonde frowned for a second, then another, "Wait. Did you say you were attacked by a Nevermore?"

"Incorrect. I was attacked by a Nevermore type automaton."

"Fine, fine – the point is, do you know how I come here?"

"I request clarification on the meaning behind the question."

"I flew here," Yang said slowly, as she nonchalantly stepped a foot backwards, "Or to be precise, I was _flown _here by an eagle automaton (mostly). It was an involuntary and painful experience, sure, but beside the point."

Yang grinned fiercely as she homed in for the kill, "You said a Nevermore attacked you, and you cried for help. But as you know a Nevermore is quite large, like _giant _large and _noisy_, so I fail to see how I can possibly miss such an _obvious _target when I was in the sky. I think _you're lying to me_," Yang raised a hand backwards, ready to fire at the slightest signs of retaliation while snarling, "Why? Who are you? Wait a sec – _What _are you? I've seen a humanoid automaton before I come here. Are you –"

"Yang."

At once her fists shook a fraction. Before she knew it an unsettling chill crept up the warrior's spine like a boa, and she nearly obeyed her basest instinct to leap straight into battle or run away. What on earth was this pressure, and where did it come from? Even the rustling grass seemed to hide terrors best left unknown. Yang forcibly capped her cool under a lid as she observed the unmoving girl closely. The same bright smile that painted a foolish impression now felt unimaginably eerie, and when Penny finally spoke up she tensed for the inevitable,

* * *

><p>"You are mistaken."<p>

Was she doing what she thought she's doing?

"… What?"

"I have not lied to you. Every word I told you is the truth."

"That's _bullshit!_" Yang exclaimed without thinking; did the girl still think to lie even now? "You expect me to believe a Nevermore actually attacked you?! Don't –"

"A Nevermore-like automaton definitely attacked me. But it is a newborn Grimm the automaton is based on."

For a second there, the blonde's mind went full blank. _What did she just say?_ It was a blind spot; since young she had heard many tales of giant Nevermores descending upon villages and devouring human beings in a single gulp – which was a fact, true – but she had completely forgotten that not all Grimm start off as a gigantic monster. Most don't, in fact, and in the case of a low level Nevermore –

"I calculate that it is about 1.615263 meters wide measuring from wing to wing," Penny opened her hands wide as if to make the comparison, but seemed to realize that they weren't wide enough before putting them down, "It must have been waiting on the trees. It swooped down really quick and surprised me, forcing me to the ground. But I managed to push it away in the end, and called for help."

"But – but! There should still be some noise!" Yang argued with a growing sense of guilt and desperation, "And uh, right! Your clothes, they aren't damaged at all!"

"There can be noise, I agree. But a forest is also noisy, and the crickets will have muffled them out. It happened very quickly after all. Estimated event time around 5.667 seconds," By pure coincidence, the forest started to grow noisier as the mechanized insects joined together to make a raucous chorus, and Yang was starting to feel really, really, _really _embarrassed at her own overreactions. But Penny didn't seem intend to end the humiliation any time soon as she continued, "As for my clothes, I am embarrassed to admit that my father is a very loving man who gave me this full body length, 99% Dust-made, synthetically composed battle suit that is at the same time, also meant to be 'cute'."

Yang's jaw fell to the ground, and she literally forgot to pick it up. Dust is a miracle material that could be converted into many things – even toothpastes! – and make the impossible possible, and among Hunters one of the most valuable and expensive products they could buy was the combat suit. A common clothing coated with 0.01% faint blue Dust could withstand most tearing and discoloration. A combat suit has carefully engineered Dust fibers woven into the fabric to protect its wearer, and for beginner Hunters-in-training was more resilient than even their own Aura.

The more Dust there is, the more powerful and resilient the clothing become, and beyond a certain percentage a skilled Hunter could even harness the power of Dust from their clothing and utilize them for many purposes (although of course, it would have to be rewoven after use). It was also incredibly flexible, neigh indestructible above a certain threshold, and with the right programming could even perform automated functions such as self-repair and spell casting. The absolute maximum percentage of Dust woven combat suit a common Hunter was allowed to buy was 3%, and those skilled enough to utilize this advantage could potentially take down an _army_ of Hunterswithout. It was a reason why only fully trained and carefully selected professional Hunters were permitted to carry equipment that was beyond the standards, for power corrupts all.

Needless to say, Dust woven combat suit was expensive. _Very _expensive. So expensive that Yang could dump in her entire bank and just barely buy a 3% combat suit which colors and style she _disliked _entirely. But anyway, back from the stray thoughts: she supposed she could believe that the young girl got a Dust woven suit as a present seeing how… _unique _the girl was, but a _99% Dust woven combat suit? Oh wait, this must be –_

"– Good joke there buddy, you totally got me. 99 percent? _Ahahaha_ that is so _funny!_" Yang laughed raucously, perhaps a bit more on the shrilly side that she'd care to admit, "Anyway, I believe you. Please forgive me for everything. I was so wrong to doubt you and, I mean, you don't seem to need my help, so, uh, well, wonderful! So uh, okay, I guess I'll get back to my own business and say goodbye –"

"Please wait."

A cold hand grabbed onto her wrist, and Yang damn near rocketed into the sky again. It seemed like she was doing that a lot lately. Yang turned to see a smiling Penny directly in front of her – _when and how did she get here so quickly!? _– who said,

"… Once again, I must emphasis that I did not lie to you, but I can see from your body language that you will not relent on at least one misconception. I am in harmony with that. However, I must now request you to escort me to the Cemetery."

Yang squeaked while trying not-so-subtly to pull back her wrist, and failing, "Wait – what? Me? Escort _you? _And did I just hear you say a _cemetery? What?"_

Penny's eyes sparkled intelligently, and suddenly the blonde felt like a trapped mouse, "You have come with the intention to aid me, but it turns out to be unrequired. I am 90 percent sure you are feeling unfulfilled." "Well actually, I don't –" "In which case, I have a primary objective in mind that will satiate that need. Usually I won't travel far, and the Companions are mostly docile except a selected few. But there may be more dangers ahead, and although I must go, I am fearful for the safety of my being. So please, do bring me to the Cemetery, Yang Xiao Long."

"Just to be completely sure, and I don't mean to be rude or anything," Yang mounted one last resistance towards freedom and stuttered, "This ce-cemetery place – is it an actual cemetery, or is it another nickname you label to confuse the stars out of people? Because you know, I'm kinda busy and lost and my frie –"

"Every once a year, I will visit that place," Penny bowed her head sadly, for the first time losing her smile and looking downcast more than she ever did before, "I was trapped here for a long time, but I am not always alone. A long, long while ago, my father and I came here by accident, and to protect me he ultimately lost his life to grievous wounds. I may have grown unfamiliar to many customs, but I still remember some important things. I am going to the Cemetery… to visit my father's graves."

It was then Yang knew she had lost – utterly and completely.


	9. Chapter 8 - Devil Wears Green

**Author's Notes: Holy wow, Malaysia is _really _hot these days. Down with a terrible cough for 5 days straight, although I guess I should count my lucky stars for avoiding a fever - really felt like it was going to breakout this morning. Hence the few hours of delay, sorry!**

* * *

><p>This world might be tiny, but it was uniquely beautiful in a way many lands above could not match. On one side lush green painted landscapes in shapes of canopies and running plains, with the occasional wild flowers and odd plants to embellish many colors. On the other stood a steady foundation of stone and steel as the many roads weaved together into many sculptures of structures and buildings; an impossible parody of modern cities that was free and artistic. But perhaps the most amazing thing of it all was the preservation of their states, that a clear line between science and nature was somehow maintained without ever invading the other's territory. And of course, living among them a whole <em>ecosystem <em>of automata.

It was an impossibility, a kind of harmony that should never have existed. Even after so many hours, Yang Xiao Long could hardly contain her spirits as she tread quite literally the middle line between two drastically environments, feeling as if she had both halves of the world right within her palms.

"Is there anything amiss, Yang? Computation suggests that the curves of your smile and total time maintained is rapidly approaching the 'Creepy' level."

… Well, it was a good ten seconds of delusion before _someone _shattered it into a million shards of glass. A piercing emerald eye met hers even as Penny the mood breaker maintained a perfectly straight stride at the front, and Yang pulled away from the gaze only to mutter a weak, "Nothing." The former seemed to interpret it as a display of boredom and assured confidently,

"Do not worry, Yang. Excluding all unpredictable risks we shall arrive at the Cemetery in T-minus twenty minutes and twenty four seconds."

"That is… reassuring."

"Are you tired? We have walked for an hour, and I observe that your breathing has grown a bit heavier. Do you want to rest? Or do you want me to carry your bags for you? As I've said before, I may not be a fighter, but I _am _strong."

Yang quickly shook her head and replied, "It's fine; I'm just –" _starting to feel emotionally bankrupt and leaking rapidly on the moral side. I can't believe I miss Ruby's silence, _"– We can rest once we reach the cemetery. I don't want to run into any more automatons if I can help it."

Penny curled her lips and turned back towards the front, "We are treading the borderline between discipline and wilderness; the probability that an automaton will come here is less than 5 percent. But you are correct, we shall opt for safety over comfort."

The duo fell back into silence. It was a stranger's kind of silence, one Yang would usually blow away in an instant, but for some reason today she just couldn't find the right kind of opening. At least Ruby was sociable when they first met each other. Was this a sign that she was _slipping? _Surely not!

But Yang knew inside what was affecting her. It was guilt. Guilt that she had acted roughly towards Penny simply because she was annoyed by the circumstances that joined them together. Guilt that she felt an indescribable dislike towards the girl's strange personality, even though it was purely subjective and not really Penny's fault. In fact, if her story was true then it was no wonder Penny had turned out so strange, with no one but neutrally-aligned machines to keep her company, and she actually _accused _her to be inhuman simply because she spoke like one. _I'm a horrible scumbag, aren't I?_

Her biggest sin of them all though, was that Yang could not trust Penny. The orange head had shown nothing but friendliness towards her, and the girl had not pressed Yang for anything at all except this little mission. In fact, she took to great lengths to earn her trust by revealing her Semblance – super strength it would seem, awakened by accident when she was younger – even though Yang was the guest and intruder of this realm. It made her feel guilty. It made her want to return the favor, or at least give the green dressed companion a token of trust.

And yet Yang still could not trust Penny. She could not explain it logically; it was an instinctual feeling backed up by several long, muddy doubts that she had missed the best timing to clear up. Was it a coincidence the eagle drop her so near to Penny? How did the girl know that Yang was there in the first place? Was she really untrained? Even the sad past she told was too vague. Was it because it was too painful, or was because it was just a hastily compounded lie? She knew it was a terribly insensitive thought, but she just could not shake away the suspicion from her mind. They've barely known each other for an hour after all; perhaps it's just safer to keep the orange head in the dark than to talk carelessly.

* * *

><p>"<em>It's not efficient."<em>

"_What?"_

"_Because it's a waste of energy," Ruby waved a hand carelessly, "Trading is one thing, and we also need to appear normal or we'll attract attention, but otherwise I don't want to spend focus on pointless things when a Demon may just be around the corner._

* * *

><p>Abruptly, the blonde's footsteps grinded to a halt. It was barely more than a second, the scraping sounds restarting so quick that it might as well be nothing. And yet something definite had changed within herself, for Yang could find no other explanation to her own sudden blurt out,<p>

"… Hey Penny."

"Yes, Yang?"

"You've been here for a time, right? Do you… want to hear some stories about the land above? It will be a great way to pass the time."

The young girl turned her head around again, her eye glinting with just the barest hint of surprise. But that dissolved immediately into excited claps as Penny laughed happier than she'd ever seen her,

"That will be great! Please, tell me _everything_ you can!"

* * *

><p>They arrived at exactly the time Penny had predicted, and when Yang gazed upon the scenery she let loose a breath of awe and wonderment.<p>

It was the second time she laid eyes upon the gorgeous sight. Tall highways joined to form rows and rows of rectangular-shaped protrusion hovering across humongous pieces of land, and unlike the roads before these were completely padded by steel plates and gleamed a piercing silver. _They are gravestones. _Yang realized with ever growing stupefaction that there might actually be ten thousand souls buried underneath the ground,and the_ c_ountless lumps of soils littered the grassless flat land – some unusually large and small – only solidified that belief further. Sure enough, the orange-haired girl said,

"We are at the Cemetery. My father's grave is just up ahead."

"Penny, is it just me or are these all…?"

"Affirmative. As a machine this happens rarely, but these are the graves of the automatons that have reached the end of their lives."

"But there must be _thousands _of them at least! If I remember correctly robotic technology was introduced only about fifty years ago in Atlas; there can't possibly be so many dead automatons already! This isn't even Atlas!"

"It is possible. These automatons are set to have the same natural lifespan as their living counterparts, and fifty years is enough to fit in two full generations and more. Even if the results of my observation is wrong, this _is_ a very strange world… won't you agree?"

Yang nodded after some personal musing. Penny's occasional insight to this world had proved to be correct, and there was no reason to doubt those words. Still, she couldn't resist asking,

"How do you know these things? Actually, how long have you been here in the first place?"

Penny turned to smile at Yang again, but the latter distinctly felt that it was laden with sadness, "A few years. Enough to learn many things, you can say. Ah! There it is!"

Yang chased the direction where Penny pointed, and sure enough she spotted the only grave that was out-of-place, not only because it was the only one with a tombstone at its head but also that there was a cut of carnation placed on top of the grave. It was a beautiful hue of pink that was almost red. Etched on the tombstone were the words,

"Here lies – a great scientist and a greater man but most of all,

The greatest father one can hope for.

John ()

1981 – 2015"

Yang noticed that the person's last name was scratched away deliberately, almost as if it was too important to be revealed even on his own gravestone, but she said nothing. Penny pulled a single white lily from her sleeves and replaced the beautiful carnation. Then, she sat down beside the tombstone and touched a gentle hand against it, seemingly conversing countless words inside her heart with her deceased parent. It would be twenty minutes before the young girl finally woke up from her reverie, but Yang was solemnly quiet and respectful throughout the sacred moment, not wanting to disturb Penny in any way. It reminded her all too strongly of her own mother, and that during the next Qing Ming, she would likely not be able to visit her grave because of her adventure.

The thought was sobering to say the least.

"Yang… Yang!"

The blonde snapped out of her thoughts as a gentle hand pulled at her tucked in wrist, "Oh. Sorry. Is it done?"

"Well, yes, normally this is where I end our little chitchat," Penny nodded honestly, "But I promised my father to show him the new thing you taught me. Please give me a stick of incense, will you?"

"Uh, what?" at first Yang thought she heard her wrongly. Then, she wished her that she was deaf.

"I will repeat: Please give me a stick of incense, will you? I will like to try praying to my father the Chinese way of worship."

"_What? _No! I mean, I haven't carry any with me, and who brings incense anyway when they're backpacking the world?"

"That is strange. I detect a… sweet smoky scent from the third right pocket of your brown bag pack which is neither gunpowder nor campfire. Are you sure you don't carry any?"

"That's impossible – wait, this is _Ruby's _bag. You _have _to be mistaken. Give me a second to check – OH MY GOD SHE DOES HAVE INCENSE! WHY?"

Somewhere someplace, on a land probably not too far away, an extremely miffed Ruby Rose sneezed.

* * *

><p>Disclaimer: the author of this diary has no idea whether Ruby <em>actually<em> sneezed, but she sure as hell _did _have some incense inside her bag, so, yeah. Don't ask why either, the author of this diary too scared to ask. Oh, and just in case this falls in the wrong hands, the author of this diary is most definitely _not _Yang Xiao Long.

* * *

><p>In the end, although Yang was somewhat averse about using her partner's items without permission, she could not refuse Penny's heartfelt pleas and relented. She much preferred it to the other suggestion anyway; a direct result of their careless conversation on cultural activities during their short walk ("I understand your complication. In that case, may I suggest that we perform a lion dance? We don't have a costume, but I believe your hair may work as a partial substitute and –" <em>"No. <em>Just… no._"_), and while there were much mixed feelings watching Penny swinging wildly the smoking stick on top of her head like she's performing a voodoo ritual, it was… okay. Her actions weren't all that different from toast a cup of great alcohol with the past; they were all a sign of love. They were all _human._

* * *

><p><em>And she did, eventually. After one, two, five, thirty minutes of deep breathing and intense self-criticism, Yang eventually felt like herself again and finally climbed back to her own feet. Throughout the ordeal, Ruby said nothing and did nothing at all. <em>

_She just watched._

* * *

><p>"Remnant to Yang! You are quite prone to daydreaming, Yang Xiao Long. May I suggest a proven prescription to this sickness?"<p>

Yang jerked out of her reverie, again. The orange head had carefully stuck the three burning incense on the ground with the white lily in perfect symmetry, and she now had a hand cautiously placed onto Yang's shoulder. The blonde gave Penny a bitter smile before lightly tapping at her wrist and said,

"I'm fine. Thanks for caring. Man, if only a certain someone will take a lesson or two from you…"

"Hmm," Penny cocked her head to the left before saying, "May I be prudent to assume that this 'certain someone' you're referring to as a person named 'Ruby'?"

Yang immediately tensed up at the mention, but quickly relaxed, "You're right. She is my f… partner. We came down here because she's terrified of the public, and there's apparently a shortcut or something that will lead us to the other side of the cliff."

"That is strange," Penny said with her eyes glancing aimlessly rightwards as she performed a mental checkup, "Referring to my database, it will seem that this part of the region is connected by a Vytal toll highway since fifty years ago. Whatever shortcut you may find here, surely it cannot beat just crossing the bridge?"

"I know right!? Just to make it clear, _I'm_ fine just paying the toll and crossing the damn bridge, but apparently we have a need to avoid any public eye as much as possible, and thank Remnant she didn't suggest something as crazy as circumventing the river by its head or something," Yang knew that she shouldn't talk too much lest she said something forbidden, but once the rant began it could not be stopped,

"But how is coming here any better!? Just look at this place! It's _huge _and it's _alien _and filled to the brim with _automatons _that, yes, seems harmless, but who knows when they'll change their mind! It's not like this place isn't nice, mind you; this'll make one helluva tourist spot if a billionaire tycoon suddenly decides to build a resort here or something, but the point is! _This is not the best place to cross a simple gap and now we're separated and I don't know where she is and I'm completely – fucking – LOST!"_

The last sentence came out in a barely restrained scream, and she didn't need a mirror to know that her Semblance must be out of control, again. Not the best of behaviors at a cemetery, surely, but recently the mere thought of Ruby just filled her with so much _rage_ that she needed this outlet more desperately than she thought possible, needed anyone _who's not a cold freaking statue _that she could talk with even if they couldn't understand her sentiment.

But she was wrong, "I… understand. You must care for her so very much."

Yang looked up in surprise. A warm hand clasped gently against her own shoulders, and Penny smiled lightly, "Do you think I don't? The only love I've known is my father's, but I dare say yours isn't too different, or at least one of the same. In the case of two partners of the same sex, I believe your love with Ruby falls under the category of 'friendship'. Is that correct?"

"Friendship, you say? Maybe. I don't know, that no longer seems like the right word to me," Her excitement fell as suddenly as it surged, and the blonde sank to her feet and said tiredly, "In fact, I believe we are more like… allies who happened to get along the same adventure. That's all."

"But why do you think that way? You do care for her, right?"

Yang chuckled darkly, "Maybe I did. But is that really all that's need to define a friendship? I wanted to know her better. I tried talking to her. I helped her in any way I can, and I try to tolerate her quirks while giving it the best I have. But what did she do? Even now I am very grateful towards her, and I certainly would not have made it this far without Ruby leading me every step along the way.

But in the end it doesn't change the fact that everything she did was only for her own self. _Never_ for me. The fact is no relationship can be nurtured by one side alone, and Ruby simply refuses to show any effort to maintain this bond we have – I'm no longer sure it's even there in the first place – and I'll have to be a saint, a fool and a donkey to keep trying knowing how it's going to end."

There was a moment of stinging silence as both girls sat on top of dirty soil, careless about their attire and pondering emotions too conflicted to resolve. Yang felt spent, exhausted. Usually a confession would relax a person's mind especially when the listener was a stranger, but all she felt was a strange emptiness too close to despair.

Once again it was Penny who broke the barrier and asked Yang an unexpected question,

"Does that mean you are no longer friends with Ruby?"

"I don't know," Yang raised both arms sarcastically, "Certainly we're not the kind of friends _I _thought we are."

"Hmm. If she's not your friend, then is she your _enemy?_" Penny stuck her face closer while staring directly into the blonde's eyes. The orange-haired girl held a firm lip that was unusually serious, but Yang laughed it off easily,

"No, of course not! I mean sure we don't get along, but she saved my Da's life! I can't ever think of her as an enemy! As for Ruby herself, well," an imaginary red eye glowered, and Yang said softly, "She has much bigger things to worry than little me here."

"Hmmm," Penny held a finger to her chin and sank into unusual silence. The blonde watched the freckle-faced girl amusedly until finally, she spoke, "I don't have many friends, so I must admit I am inexperienced. Do you mind if I ask a few questions to clarify my thoughts?"

"Uh, sure, go on," Yang didn't particularly care to continue the gloomy subject, but Penny seemed unusually invested for some reason. She thought she could spare a bit more time for this lonely girl in this lonely world. Speaking of which, did she ever ask Penny why she did never leave this place…?

"You and Ruby are not friends. Or rather, that friendship has expired because Ruby refuses to uphold her end of the contract. Is that accurate?"

"A _contract? _Well, I guess that's not wrong, since there's a saying that marriage is a financial contract too…"

"But you and Ruby are not enemies either. Neither of you feel the need to harm each other physically. Is that accurate?"

"Not really. Well, okay, sometimes, but that's only when she pissed me off real bad and even then, I'm much better off punching a tree than her. Not to mention she's so fast, I can't even _touch _her," Yang snorted in self-derision. However Penny barely seemed to have heard her as she nodded distractedly while continuing,

"Correct, you are not enemies, and since the two of you know each other, of course you do not classify as strangers. So are you acquaintances? Not quite, since the emotional dilemma both of you face clearly exceeds that of a superficial relationship. I can't even classify this! Oh, this is _fascinating_. More than anything else in this world, I want…"

"… Er, hello, Penny? Are you… okay?" Penny was strange to begin with, but the girl was acting even more off than usual. Yang smiled wryly, raising a gloved hand towards the orange head's shoulder ready to shake her awake, but what happened next was not what she expected. In an instant she felt herself falling – _no, _pushed down _by an unbelievable strength _– backwards with incredibly speed before ramming painfully into the ground, and blinking through the dizziness Yang found Penny's face literally just a few inches away from hers. The survival instinct that had been lulled into sleep awoke in frenetic scream, but Yang couldn't move a centimeter no matter how hard she struggled. _Even with her Semblance, how is she so strong!? _The blonde half shouted,

"Penny, what are you doing!? Let me go!"

"I have heard your problems, and I have come up with the obvious and _only_ answer. You _must _hear it."

"Okay, okay! Stop holding me down and then we'll –"

"Yang Xiao Long, what you have is an unrequited love. She does not care for you. She is heedless to all but herself. No matter what you do, no matter how hard you try, she will never relent her higher purpose for someone like _you._"

Her face washed white; her arms suddenly felt weak as twigs even as struggled still to push Penny away. They were the devil's words, Yang knew, but she could not seem to fight it until even the world lost its colors, and all that's left was sweet, sweet poison,

"In that case, the answer is simple. Why do you shy away from your own heart? Leave her, Yang Xiao Long, _leave Ruby Rose_, and you will _never _have to worry about her again in your life_… never._"


End file.
